MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Announces He is Running to Chair the RNC

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Monday announced that he is running to become Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

“I am 100% running for the RNC chairman against [current chair] Ronna McDaniel,” Lindell told Steve Bannon in an interview on Real America’s Voice.

“I’m all in,” Lindell added. “And one of the things that one of the big donors said to me, he said, Mike, everybody wants you to be head of the RNC, some of them just don’t know it yet.”

Lindell told Axios that the decision to run is solely his and that he did not consult with former President Donald Trump about the move.

“I did not call him and say, ‘What do you think about this?’” he said. “This is my decision.”

Lindell has been a close ally of Trump.

Mike Lindell: “I am 100% running for the RNC Chairman against Ronna McDaniel.”

The Republican Party continues its descent into absurdity. pic.twitter.com/xh8Vofo6xX

— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) November 28, 2022

RELATED: In Supreme Court’s First Term, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s Bid to Toss Dominion Voting Systems Defamation Lawsuit is Rejected

Mike Lindell Running to Chair RNC

Mike Lindell’s chances of becoming the new RNC chair are slim, as he has been one of the most strident voices arguing about election integrity by pushing unproven claims of fraud regarding the 2020 presidential election.

He is also embroiled in his own legal troubles.

The Political Insider reported in September that Lindell had his phone seized by FBI agents while sitting at the drive-thru of a Hardee’s in Minnesota.

According to Mike Lindell, the FBI confiscated his phone this evening. pic.twitter.com/a7iiF2fPT8

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 14, 2022

Lindell was questioned about his connection to Tina Peters, a county clerk in Mesa, Colorado who was indicted on state charges related to a scheme to download data from voting machines used in the 2020 election.

Peters has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A federal judge subsequently denied Lindell’s request to reclaim his phone from investigators.

In October, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch bid by Lindell to throw out a defamation lawsuit against him by Dominion Voting Systems.

Lindell, along with Trump allies Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, both lawyers who filed election challenges on the former President’s behalf, are part of a lawsuit by Dominion seeking $1.3 billion in damages.

A lower court judge had allowed the lawsuit to proceed in August arguing that there is no “blanket immunity” on political speech.

The Supreme Court won’t take on Mike Lindell’s defamation case, so the businessman is still staring down a $1 billion lawsuit for his “rigged election” claims. pic.twitter.com/7N6ob8arkG

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 3, 2022

RELATED: GOP Chairwoman: If Republicans Win Control of Congress They’ll Work With Biden

McDaniel Likely Not Going Anywhere

Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the RNC and niece of Senator Mitt Romney, has the backing of a majority of the committee’s voting members according to The Hill.

This, despite the fact that the GOP struggled more mightily in the midterm elections under her leadership than had been anticipated.

McDaniel raised eyebrows prior to the election by stating a new Congress potentially in the hands of a Republican majority would reach across the aisle and work with President Biden.

“Would Republicans be willing to do the same and not just be a roadblock for him?” she was asked.

“We have to,” McDaniel replied. “We have to work on behalf of the American people.”

.@GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel: “If [Republicans] win back the House and the Senate, it’s the American people saying to Joe Biden, we want you to work on behalf of us and we want you to work across the aisle and solve the problems that we are dealing with.” pic.twitter.com/Mn5kNxRXCx

— The Hill (@thehill) November 7, 2022

The midterm results prompted Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to label McDaniel a “McFailure.”

McCarthy
McConnell
McDaniel

McFailure

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 10, 2022

McDaniel may also face a challenge from Representative Lee Zeldin for the position of Chair. Zeldin (R-NY) recently lost a closer-than-expected battle for Governor of deep blue New York.

McDaniel has signaled that she intends to run for reelection as party chair, a move that would make her RNC leader through the 2024 presidential election.