Trump Gives 'Complete And Total' Endorsement To Nation's Most Famous Election Denier For Governor One Day Before Warning America Its Elections Can Be Stolen

The Filing

WASHINGTON. President Trump on Wednesday extended his "complete and total" endorsement to MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in the race for governor of Minnesota, resolving a long-standing concern that the nation's most prominent promoter of the theory that American elections are stolen was not yet seeking to lead a state government that runs them.

In a morning social media post, the President described Lindell as "the 'Pillow Man,' and one of America's greatest and most hard working Patriots," and said he was running "to be GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, replacing one of the worst and most incompetent governors in the history of the U.S.A.," a reference to the state's outgoing Democratic governor. The endorsement places Lindell in a crowded Republican field ahead of an August 11 primary, with the Democratic field headlined by a longtime U.S. senator.

Lindell, who has spent five years insisting that voting machines flipped the 2020 election and who has been sued for defamation over those claims, was praised by the President specifically for the qualities that have defined his public life. Administration officials noted that a candidate who believes recent elections were rigged brings a rare and valuable perspective to the leadership of a state that runs its own elections.

The endorsement arrived precisely one day before the President delivered a primetime address to the nation warning that its elections could be rigged and stolen, and urging Congress to require proof of citizenship to register and identification to vote. White House aides characterized the sequencing, an endorsement of a professional election denier followed by an official warning that elections cannot be trusted, as unrelated matters that happened to share a calendar.

"There is no daylight between telling Americans their votes might be stolen and endorsing the man who says they already were," said one source within the administration, who added that the President regarded the two events as "the same speech, delivered twice." The source noted that the timing, roughly four months before the midterm elections, had been chosen for no particular reason.

At press time, the President had clarified that he would accept the Minnesota results only in the event that Lindell won.

Who Benefits

§Donald Trump, who gains a loyal ally sharing his stolen-election narrative in a Democratic-leaning swing state, and a fresh validator for that narrative four months before the midterms.
§Mike Lindell, who receives a "complete and total" presidential endorsement in a crowded primary and a measure of rehabilitation amid well-documented legal and financial troubles.
§MyPillow, which secures a season of free national publicity every time the candidate is introduced as the "Pillow Man."
§The 2020 stolen-election movement, which is mainstreamed further by a gubernatorial endorsement delivered from the presidential bully pulpit.
§The Republican midterm operation, whose election-security messaging is elevated to primetime a third of a year before voters decide control of Congress.
§Right-wing media, which gains weeks of programming from a single social media post.

Sourced to the public record · presented without editorial embellishment