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Mike Lindell rallied with about about 100 people on Wednesday night at his first campaign event in Minnesota since President Donald Trump issued his endorsement.

Lindell is one of the three top contenders for the Republican nomination for governor, which will be decided by the August 11th primary election. He received Trump’s backing over the party-endorsed candidate, Kendall Qualls, and another well-known, well-funded challenger, House Speaker Lisa Demuth.

At the podium in the Sauk Centre high school auditorium for what his campaign called a town hall, Lindell spoke at length about his past dealing with addiction, his relationship to Trump and some policies he’s running on, such as cutting taxes in hopes of making life more affordable for Minnesotans. 

“That's our number one thing because otherwise people are leaving,” said Lindell. “We all have to deal with the price of groceries and all that stuff that's done at pretty much at the federal level. But what we can do here is make ourselves so that we don't have to be taxed.”

Lindell and his running mate Phillip Parrish also said that should they be elected, Minnesota would pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, which holds members accountable to reduce their emissions by 2035. The pair also shared their opposition to Sharia, the religious law of Islam. 

They also said they’d tackle issues plaguing different parts of Minnesota’s economy

“You name the industry, I'm going to have that in the budget. We've done our due diligence. We're not leaving one single sector behind in Minnesota,” Lindell said. “We are going to make Minnesota great again.”

He was also asked about several issues but didn't give many specifics about how he would seek to tackle them beyond saying "we'll look into it."

Lindell highlighted his ties to Trump early and often. After opening remarks, he played a video of the president that delighted the crowd in the less-than-full auditorium.

“The people of Minnesota are not happy,” Trump said in footage from another rally. “And you know who's running for governor? Mike Lindell. Do we like Mike Lindell?”

Many of those at the Sauk Centre event were either already backing Lindell or were there to see if his presentation would win over their vote. 

One of the attendees, Michelle Hoeper, traveled from the nearby city of Villard to make sure Lindell is the right choice for her and the issues she cares about, including school choice and government spending. 

“I think just a lot of our tax money is going to the wrong policies, fraud included,” Hoeper said. “I mean, I see our roads not being taken care of, and you know, wonder where the money that was supposed to be for that is, and just feel like Minnesota's not been going in the right direction. So hopefully, we'll change that come November.”

Julie Thieschaefer, a volunteer who coordinated the Sauk Centre town hall, said she was sold on Lindell after reading his book, which describes how he struggled with addiction and became the CEO of MyPillow.

“I had already done my research on Lisa and Qualls and decided Mike was definitely the one that I think needs to be our next governor,” Thieschaefer said. “He's an outsider. He's very honest with a lot of integrity, very transparent.”

Lindell said he thinks voters will agree with the president’s endorsement.

“You know, people in Minnesota, a lot of them haven't voted for a long time,” Lindell said. “President Trump gave them hope in 2016. There was no hope before. Why go vote? Minneapolis is going to vote Democrat. Well, I'm bringing them hope.”

But state Republican Party leaders are nervous. GOP Chair Alex Plechash made a rare break with Trump over his decision, saying Lindell could hurt the entire ticket because of his controversial past. That includes being delinquent on taxes and his contention that Trump won the 2020 election.

In Brainerd last week, GOP voter Kevin Ruen told MPR News that he shares the concerns about Lindell.

“I don't think it's going to help the Republicans in Minnesota to get more Republicans elected. Right now his policies haven't been very good for Minnesota, and so I don't think his endorsement is really an advantage for our candidates,” Ruen said

“I've been doing that for five years. These uniparty Republicans, I call them uniparty establishment Republicans,” Lindell said. “Do they have a personal agenda? Is it a uniparty party agenda? Is it just an evil agenda or a combination? I've been hit so hard for five years. If I had to say, I would say it was all three.”

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Fresh off an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Republican Mike Lindell held a town hall meeting in Sauk Centre where he promised to “make Minnesota great again” if primary voters nominate him next month to run for governor. 

A shot of a politician from behind speaking on stage to an auditorium of people.

Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval | MPR News

A man in a suit speaks intensely at a podium.

A woman in an American flag outfit stands next to a "Mike Lindell for Governor" sign.

A woman poses next to a display of Mike Lindell books while holding one.

A high school auditorium is roughly half full of event attendees.

Mike Lindell makes his case to voters at Sauk Centre event

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