Trump endorses MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in Minnesota governor’s race

Republican Trump ally has spent years promoting discredited claims about 2020 election

Donald Trump has endorsed Mike Lindell’s bid for Minnesota governor, calling the MyPillow founder “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots” in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

Trump described Lindell as someone who had “sacrificed” more than almost anyone else “in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity”, invoking Lindell’s years spent promoting discredited claims about the 2020 election. Trump said Lindell “will MAKE MINNESOTA GREAT AGAIN” and gave him full-throated support ahead of the state’s 11 August Republican primary, where early voting is already under way.

The backing lands as Lindell trails in general election polling. A Star Tribune/KARE 11/Hubbard School Minnesota poll conducted in June found the Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar leading Lindell 53% to 36% in a hypothetical matchup, with 11% undecided, making it her strongest showing against any of the Republican contenders tested.

The same poll found Klobuchar edges out her other GOP rivals: 48% to 37% against the Republican party-endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls, and 48% to 40% against the Minnesota house speaker, Lisa Demuth.

Besides Demuth and Qualls, who won the party’s endorsement in May, the primary ballot includes the 2022 nominee Scott Jensen and state representative Peggy Bennett, among others. Klobuchar is the frontrunner on the Democratic side after entering the race in January.

Trump’s endorsement also comes with a residency question hanging over Lindell’s campaign. Lindell, who was both born in the state and built MyPillow into a manufacturing company there, spent several years registered to vote in Texas before describing himself in a court filing last year as “a Texas citizen”. He has since told reporters he had re-established residency in Minnesota, saying he will meet the state’s requirement that gubernatorial candidates live in Minnesota for at least a year before the general election.

The governor’s race is open because Tim Walz, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor incumbent and 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, opted not to seek a third term. In his last election in 2022, Walz defeated Jensen, a Republican, by 7.7 percentage points.

The primary will be decided on 11 August, with the general election on 3 November.