{"id":2240,"date":"2026-08-14T07:33:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=2240"},"modified":"2026-08-14T07:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:33:43","slug":"is-a-trump-endorsement-becoming-a-liability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=2240","title":{"rendered":"Is a Trump Endorsement Becoming a Liability?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"\">\n<div id=\"article-title-block_aeec2b1fa94bf6557dc4f405a0dde8e8\" class=\"article-title \">\n<div class=\"article-title__container\">\n<div class=\"article-title__eyebrow\">\n                            <span class=\"article-title__labels\"><br \/>\n                                        <span class=\"article-title__label\"><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/subject\/politics\/\">Politics<\/a><br \/>\n                    <\/span><br \/>\n                                                                            <\/span><br \/>\n                                    <span class=\"article-title__label-divider\"> \/ <\/span><br \/>\n                                                                            <span class=\"article-title__date\">August 13, 2026<\/span>\n                                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-the-nation-dek article-title__dek\">\n<p>The president\u2019s backing failed to secure a primary win in Minnesota for Mike Lindell. And he\u2019s not the only one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"ad-block ad siderail-ad float-r-w-3 break-r-4\">\n<p>                                    <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/advertising-policy\" class=\"ad-policy\" target=\"_blank\">Ad Policy<\/a><br \/>\n                                    <\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2279275595.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-607001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2279275595.jpeg 1440w, https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2279275595-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\n<p>Gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell makes his case for the GOP nomination in Duluth, Minnesota, in May 2026.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"credits\">(Richard Tsong-Taatarii \/ The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"is-style-dropcap\">In the wake of this week\u2019s primary votes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Carolina, our punditry complex remains fixated on the left insurgency in the Democratic Party. But we should find some time, amid all these speculative forecasts, to linger over one of the most satisfying outcomes of this primary season: the decisive defeat of MyPillow impresario Mike Lindell as he mounted an ultra-MAGA bid for Minnesota\u2019s GOP gubernatorial nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Lindell is best known for his zealous public support of Donald Trump\u2019s unhinged conspiracy theories about his 2020 electoral defeat\u2014an effort that devoured millions of Lindell\u2019s own fortune and resulted in a handful of delusional pseudo-documentaries peddling lies about election fraud, while earning him still more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2021\/02\/22\/mike-lindell-made-his-bed-with-trumps-bogus-conspiracies-now-he-gets-lie-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disavowals and deplatformings<\/a> from media networks that agreed to air his calumnies in exchange for cash. Lindell has also faced a welter of court cases based on his election lies. In June, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minnpost.com\/glean\/2026\/06\/voting-machine-company-settles-defamation-lawsuit-against-mike-lindell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">settled a lawsuit<\/a> brought by the voting machine company formerly known as Dominion, which settled an earlier $787 million claim against Fox News on the same grounds. A separate action, brought by a Dominion executive in Colorado, resulted in a $2.3 million judgment against Lindell, together with $4.4 million in punitive fees his lawyers are still fighting, amid a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law360.com\/cases\/6274824275a3448282887d3f\/articles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">steady stream of sanctions<\/a> for false citations and other errors. And the voting machine firm Smartmatic won a separate suit against Lindell, though he continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-defamation-suit-smartmatic-court-fines-rcna589923\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refuse to pay the damages<\/a> he owes.<\/p>\n<p>This long trail of fabulism and conspiracy-mongering is a credential in a MAGA movement now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/the-implications-of-trump-loyalists-and-election-deniers-winning-gop-primaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rife with election deniers<\/a>, and Lindell minted an enthusiastic Trump endorsement out of it, which pretty much furnished his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/08\/10\/nx-s1-5925152\/lindell-minnesota-primary-elections-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entire campaign platform<\/a>. But Lindell\u2019s reliance on the president\u2019s kingmaking prowess came decisively to naught: He was soundly thrashed by Minnesota House Speaker Lisa DeMuth on Tuesday, losing by 11 points and more than 45,000 votes; to absolutely no one\u2019s surprise, he is <a href=\"https:\/\/myfox8.com\/news\/lindell-refuses-to-concede-alleges-voting-irregularities\/?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refusing to concede<\/a> and floating a fresh round of fabricated claims about rampant election fraud.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s far too soon to hail Lindell\u2019s defeat as a sign that the Republican Party might be, at long last, stirring out of its authoritarian fantasias and engaging with some semblance of reality once more. But Lindell\u2019s face-plant, after his <a href=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/kstp-news\/top-news\/kstp-surveyusa-poll-lindell-tafoya-increase-their-election-leads-craig-ellison-margins-shrink\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leading in the polls<\/a> during the campaign\u2019s homestretch, marks the most prominent loss by a Trump-anointed hopeful in this primary cycle. Trump endorsements still command widespread devotion from the GOP base, as incumbent casualties on the right such as John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, Thomas Massie, and John Cassidy can readily attest. Yet Lindell\u2019s defeat comes after a number of other setbacks for handpicked Trump endorsees in the primaries. Just last week, Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles\u2014a stout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/gop-rep-andy-ogles-deletes-homophobic-social-media-post-blames-staffer-rcna348227\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">homophobe<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/03\/09\/g-s1-113033\/tennessee-gop-rep-says-muslims-dont-belong-in-american-society\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anti-Islamic racist<\/a> hailed by Trump as a \u201cconservative warrior\u201d\u2014lost a race in his redrawn district to former state agricultural commissioner Charlie Hatcher. In Michigan\u2019s eighth district, meanwhile, Trump-endorsed candidate Amir Hassan lost badly to Thomas J. Smith\u2014an especially embarrassing outcome for Hassan and Trump since Smith had <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/candidate-dropped-beats-trump-backed-favorite-michigan-gop\/story?id=135390539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended his campaign<\/a> the month before.<\/p>\n<p>Several of Trump\u2019s biggest endorsement flops centered, as Lindell\u2019s did, on a governor\u2019s race. In Iowa, MAGA standard-bearer Randy Feenstra lost to Zack Laun, an insurgent candidate aligned with the MAHA movement. In Georgia\u2014a critical swing state\u2014Trump\u2019s pet candidate, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, lost to Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive running as an \u201coutsider.\u201d And in South Carolina\u2014traditionally deep-red Trump country\u2014Pamela Evette, another lieutenant governor endorsed by Trump, fell to state Attorney General Alan Wilson. (Though Trump, who can\u2019t bear to lose, issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/weekly-score\/2026\/06\/22\/why-trump-dual-endorsed-in-the-south-carolina-governors-race-00969415\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hurried dual endorsement<\/a> of both candidates when he saw that an Evette win was looking like a long shot.) These miscues in governors\u2019 races are revealing, since they\u2019re statewide tests of voter sentiment that, unlike Senate contests, aren\u2019t heavily reliant on the national party\u2019s resources and organizing infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Lindell\u2019s poor showing in Minnesota was also telling because the state has become a flash point in the protests against the Trump administration\u2019s fascist mass deportation campaign\u2014an initiative that\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/6005968-trump-immigration-poll-disapproval\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">losing public support<\/a> on a massive scale. Right-wing leaders in Minnesota have sought to distract from this liability with demagogic and racist attacks on the state\u2019s Somali community, which they allege has engaged in rampant government-funded fraud, but that\u2019s chiefly served to further diminish the party\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sahanjournal.com\/democracy-politics\/minnesota-republicans-lose-ground-with-voters-of-color-ahead-of-gubernatorial-primary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">support among non-white voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"current-issue-block_fdffea332de791e1721119434e63a054\" class=\"current-issue  float-l-w-2\">\n<h4 class=\"current-issue__title\">\n                    Current Issue<br \/>\n            <\/h4>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/issue\/september-2026-issue\/\" class=\"current-issue__cover\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/09-26-Cover-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of September 2026 Issue\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s true that, in addition to facing these MAGA headwinds, Lindell also contended with some structural challenges. He wasn\u2019t the beneficiary of the state GOP\u2019s endorsement\u2014though the candidate who did nail it down, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2026\/05\/30\/qualls-secures-gop-endorsement-for-governor-in-10ballot-marathon-plagued-by-glitches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">former healthcare executive Kendall Qualls<\/a>, finished a distant third in the primary balloting. In an election cycle more friendly to Trump\u2014who now has an approval rating <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/214162\/transcript-even-gop-pollsters-rattled-trump-hits-record-new-low\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">below the depths<\/a> he reached in the wake of the January 6 coup attempt\u2014Lindell might well have claimed that the state GOP leaders were RINO\u2019s, stiffing a heroic truth-teller to continue feathering their own nests. Instead, the state party\u2019s failure to play much of a significant role in the race\u2019s outcome seems to be an ominous reflection of the broader cluelessness of the national party in the face of a Trump-free future. It\u2019s unclear how much Lindell wound up spending on his campaign, given his plutocratic portfolio and the absence of any serious regulation of dark-money spending, but it <a href=\"https:\/\/minnesotareformer.com\/2026\/07\/28\/what-did-mike-lindells-campaign-spend-its-money-on-in-june-and-july-tough-to-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">doesn\u2019t appear to be much<\/a>\u2014not a surprising development, since he\u2019s still drowning in legal fees and stepped away from his MyPillow post to run for governor.<\/p>\n<p>But all these factors aside, the resounding defeat of Trump\u2019s best-known ally in election denial and MAGA grievance politics is a boon for sanity and truthfulness. There may well be another boomlet in self-funded bogus documentaries about Lindell\u2019s loss, but it seems like a growing contingent of the public is happy to tell the tireless self-dramatizing crank to stuff a pillow in it.<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"article-end-\" class=\"article-end \">\n<div class=\"article-end__authors\">\n<div class=\"article-end__author\">\n<h5 class=\"article-end__author-name\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/authors\/chris-lehmann\/\">Chris Lehmann<\/a><br \/>\n                    <\/h5>\n<p>                                            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lehmannchris\" class=\"article-end__author-twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"17\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 17 14\" fill=\"none\"><br \/>\n\t<default:path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M15.2054 3.54558C15.2122 3.6951 15.215 3.84463 15.215 3.99527C15.215 8.58792 11.7194 13.8834 5.32683 13.8834C3.36455 13.8834 1.53779 13.3083 0 12.3221C0.271606 12.354 0.548252 12.3702 0.828257 12.3702C2.45677 12.3702 3.95536 11.8147 5.14483 10.8829C3.62384 10.8543 2.34085 9.84963 1.89844 8.4692C2.11068 8.51008 2.32797 8.53136 2.55253 8.53136C2.87006 8.53136 3.17695 8.48936 3.46815 8.40984C1.87772 8.09008 0.680414 6.68501 0.680414 5.00273C0.680414 4.98705 0.680414 4.97305 0.680414 4.95793C1.14858 5.21833 1.68452 5.37514 2.25461 5.39362C1.32219 4.76921 0.708415 3.7063 0.708415 2.5006C0.708415 1.8633 0.879778 1.26633 1.17882 0.753361C2.89302 2.85621 5.45395 4.23887 8.34249 4.38392C8.28313 4.12967 8.25233 3.86423 8.25233 3.59206C8.25233 1.6729 9.80861 0.117188 11.7278 0.117188C12.7274 0.117188 13.6301 0.539436 14.2641 1.21425C15.0559 1.05913 15.8002 0.769041 16.4716 0.370873C16.2118 1.18289 15.6602 1.86386 14.9428 2.29395C15.6462 2.20939 16.3159 2.02235 16.9392 1.74626C16.4739 2.44292 15.8842 3.05557 15.2054 3.54558Z\" fill=\"#666666\"\/><br \/>\n<\/default:svg><br \/>\n                        <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-end__author-bio\">\n<p>Chris Lehmann is the DC Bureau chief for <em>The Nation<\/em>\u00a0and a contributing editor at\u00a0<em>The Baffler.<\/em>\u00a0He was formerly editor of\u00a0<em>The<\/em>\u00a0<em>Baffler\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>The New Republic<\/em>, and is the author, most recently, of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mhpbooks.com\/books\/the-money-cult\/\"><em>The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Melville House, 2016).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script type=\"df7f8d360309fced1e4e6958-text\/javascript\">\n\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n\t\t{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n\t\tif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n\t\tn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n\t\ts.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script', 'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\tfbq('init', '233793277040432');\n\t\tfbq('track', 'PageView');\n\t\t\t\t<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Politics \/ August 13, 2026 The president\u2019s backing failed to secure a primary win in Minnesota for Mike Lindell. And he\u2019s not the only one. Ad Policy Gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell makes his case for the GOP nomination in Duluth, Minnesota, in May 2026. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii \/ The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) In&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[4234,4235,289],"class_list":["post-2240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-endorsement","tag-liability","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}