Trump endorsed MyPillow Guy as governor of Minnesota. The state Republican Party isn’t buying it

Mike Lindell is A former drug addict turned pillow salesman with no experience in political office. He has spent the past six years, and millions of dollars, promoting election conspiracy theories, even claiming that “Satan” stole the 2020 election.

Lindell is now running for governor of Minnesota and already has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

“Mike would be amazing!!! He truly loves Minnesota, as much as I do, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Over the weekend, Trump personally praised Lindell at a fundraiser, and backed Lindell again on Tuesday, writing: “Mike Lindell will be a great Governor. He loves Minnesota with all his heart.”

While polls show Lindell as the favorite to win the Republican nomination in the August 11 primary, Trump’s endorsement was not a welcome one for the Minnesota Republican Party.

“We are surprised by President Trump’s endorsement of Mike Lindell,” Alex Plechas, chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, wrote in a statement posted on the party’s website hours after Trump’s initial endorsement. Plechasz went on to criticize Lendl’s credentials:

“When things got tough under Tim Walz, Mike Lindell left Minnesota for Texas,” the party chairman wrote. “Now he wants Minnesota Republicans to ignore his serious financial baggage, public records showing tens of thousands of dollars in back property taxes, significant electability concerns, and unanswered questions surrounding his running mate. Minnesota cannot afford to run a ticket that gives Democrats an easy target.” Lindell reportedly owed tens of thousands of dollars in Minnesota property tax debt — which he says he has now paid — and was not registered to vote in the state until this week.

While Lindell’s chances of winning the primary are high, analysts and the local Republican Party believe he has little chance of challenging potential Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar in the general election in November. The standoff over Lindell’s endorsement highlights the challenge facing local Republican parties whose choices conflict with Trump, whom they cannot afford to anger. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Plechasz’s statement.

“I’d like to think it was as simple as the party saying they didn’t want Lindell, but they couldn’t say it in a way that would piss off the president,” Blois Olson, a Minnesota political analyst, tells WIRED. “This is the reality because they’re not only pissing off the president, they’re pissing off Trump’s most ardent supporters, which is the people of Minnesota, who need them in November. It’s a thread of a needle, which makes it a huge challenge.”

Lindell rose to prominence on the national political scene in the wake of the 2020 election when he became one of the most vocal supporters and financiers of the baseless conspiracy theory that votes were stolen from Trump. Over the next few years, Lindell funded activist groups, hosted conferences, and produced a film, all claiming election fraud. By 2022, Lindell said he had spent $40 million of his own money on the case.

Lindell has also been sued by voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for defamation over allegations that its machines are rigged. While Dominion’s lawsuit eventually ended in a settlement agreement (with both parties paying their own fees), Smartmatic’s lawsuit is still ongoing. Lindell’s legal costs ran into the millions.

Instead of being welcomed by the local party, Lindell says the Minnesota Republican Party did everything it could to stop his campaign, including failing to provide him with a slate of delegates and barring him from attending debates and forums. Lindell says he’s not sure why the Minnesota Republican Party would do that.