Trump endorses Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor over Amy Klobuchar

Trump the president backed the MyPillow founder and revived rigged-election claims as Klobuchar, Minnesota's senior senator, entered the 2026 race to succeed Governor Tim Walz.

First Published: July 15, 2026, 9:22 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump endorsed Mike Lindell for governor of Minnesota and attacked Senator Amy Klobuchar in a Truth Social post on July 15, 2026 at 1:09 PM ET.

Trump gave his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to Lindell, the MyPillow founder and a longtime ally, while branding Klobuchar and Governor Tim Walz corrupt and incompetent. He revived claims that Minnesota elections are rigged, an assertion that no court ruling or state investigation supports.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Amy Klobuchar, the lightly respected Senator from Minnesota, is running for Governor to take the place of the current Corrupt and Incompetent Tim Walz. I have gotten to know Klobuchar over the years, and find her to be equally as incompetent as Walz, and probably equally as corrupt in that, as a high Government Official from Minnesota, she knew everything that was going on. If the Elections in Minnesota weren’t RIGGED, any Republican could win, but they were, and that is why nobody has won there since Richard Nixon many years ago. I thought I won it all three times, only to be disappointed in the end. Vote for Mike Lindell for Governor, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement, and forget about these Corrupt Dumocrats like Amy Klobuchar. MAKE MINNESOTA GREAT AGAIN! Trump”

Klobuchar is the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. She previously served as county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous county, before winning her Senate seat in 2006 (according to britannica.com). She became the state’s first elected female United States senator.

The endorsement raises the stakes for Minnesota Republicans, who have not carried the state in a presidential contest since 1972. A Lindell candidacy tests whether Trump’s base can overcome a Democratic-Farmer-Labor advantage that has held statewide for more than five decades. Klobuchar, by contrast, has won four Senate elections by wide margins, giving her a fundraising and name-recognition edge in the primary field.

Minnesota’s rigged-election claim carries no supporting evidence. State canvassing boards certify results, and recounts and audits have repeatedly upheld outcomes without finding fraud that would alter a statewide race. State officials certified Trump’s own three defeats in Minnesota, in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

For the average Minnesota voter, the contest shapes control of the governor’s office and the policy direction on taxes, schools and public safety through the end of the decade. The winner will hold veto power over the state legislature and appoint judges and agency heads.

Has this happened before? Trump has endorsed insurgent candidates in states his party has struggled to win, and the pattern has produced mixed results at the ballot box. His backing has lifted primary challengers while sometimes complicating general-election math in states that lean toward Democrats.

The next decision rests with Minnesota primary voters and the two parties as they set their nominees ahead of the November 2026 general election. A precise primary date for the gubernatorial contest has not been announced.

Minnesota has staged bruising governor’s races before. In 1998, former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura won the office as a third-party candidate, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey III and Republican Norm Coleman with about 37 percent of the vote (according to britannica.com). Ventura served a single four-year term and did not seek reelection, and no third-party candidate has captured the office since. The upset showed that celebrity and outsider appeal can crack Minnesota’s two-party grip, if only once.