Trump backs Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor as early voting opens

Trump the MyPillow founder, sued for $1.3 billion by Dominion Voting Systems in 2021, won Trump's full endorsement in the 2026 Republican primary for governor.

First Published: July 15, 2026, 3:51 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump endorsed Mike Lindell for governor of Minnesota as early primary voting opened.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Mike Lindell, the “Pillow Man,” and one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots, is running to be GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA, replacing one of the worst and most incompetent governors in the history of the U.S.A. Early Primary Voting has begun and, if given the chance, Mike will be SPECTACULAR!!! He truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment. He can do it! Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity. He truly deserves everything he gets – He will MAKE MINNESOTA GREAT AGAIN!!! MIKE LINDELL HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT – HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. Good Luck Mike!!! Trump”

The endorsement landed in a post on Truth Social on July 15, 2026 at 7:31 AM ET. Lindell, the founder and chief executive of MyPillow, a Minnesota-based bedding maker he built after inventing the product in 2004, announced in December 2025 that he would seek the Republican nomination (see wikipedia.org). He was born in Mankato, Minnesota, on June 28, 1961, and attended the University of Minnesota (see kiddle.co).

“He truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment,” Trump said in the post.

Lindell became one of the most visible financiers of efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential result and promoted disproven claims about voting machines (see wikipedia.org). Dominion Voting Systems sued him and his company for $1.3 billion in February 2021, alleging his false claims damaged the firm’s reputation (see kiddle.co). Smartmatic also sued him, and a federal court dismissed his countersuits in May 2022.

The stakes reach beyond one race. A Lindell victory would place a prominent election-fraud activist in charge of a state’s election administration, a prospect that energizes his supporters and alarms his critics. Minnesota has not elected a Republican governor since 2006, giving the primary added weight for a party seeking to break a long statewide drought.

For the average Minnesota voter, the governor sets policy on taxes, schools, roads and public safety, and oversees the agencies that certify elections. The primary determines which candidate carries the Republican banner into the general election, shaping the choices on the November ballot.

Has this happened before? Lindell has sought office before without success. He weighed a run for governor in 2022 but decided against it, then ran for chair of the Republican National Committee in November 2022 and lost, drawing 4 of 167 votes.

Minnesota primary voters will render the next decision at the ballot box, with early voting already underway. Election officials have not announced a specific certification date for the primary result.

Endorsements from a sitting president reshaping a home-state primary have shifted races before. Trump’s backing lifted numerous first-time candidates through Republican primaries in 2022, and MyPillow itself became a political flashpoint after retailers including Walmart, Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond dropped the brand (see kiddle.co). Those retailers cited weak demand rather than politics, while Lindell tied the losses to his election activism. The dispute cost the company shelf space at national chains and forced it to auction equipment in July 2023, a reversal for a founder who once built the product into a household name.