Cleveland Reporter

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell couldn't pronounce the name of the man he had supposedly endorsed for Ohio governor earlier that day. 

"The Jim Renacci (Reh-NEE-shaw) endorsement in Ohio. I did not endorse him," Lindell said on a livestreamed Facebook video. "People were misconstrued. There was a lot of confusion. Somebody put it out there." 

That somebody was the campaign of former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, one of three Republicans hoping to unseat GOP Gov. Mike DeWine in this May's primary.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, Renacci emailed media to tout his new endorsement: "Mike Lindell has entered the Ohio Political Scene this week, endorsing Jim Renacci for Governor of Ohio in his bid to remove RINO Mike Dewine."

But that endorsement quickly unraveled, smothered either because of miscommunication, an unreliable endorser or backlash against Renacci from Republicans who see him as another "Republican in Name Only."

Mike Lindell: From MyPillow CEO to Trump stalwart

But first, who is Mike Lindell and why would a candidate want his endorsement? Lindell is a former crack addict turned evangelical Christian and ally of former President Donald Trump. The CEO of a Minnesota-based pillow manufacturing company, Lindell is best known for pushing 2020 election conspiracies.

Dominion Voting Systems has sued Lindell, saying he “knowingly lied about Dominion to sell more pillows to people who continued tuning in to hear what they wanted to hear about the election."

But Lindell also has a significant following, especially among Trump supporters. Right now, Renacci, former state Rep. Ron Hood and Canal Winchester businessman Joe Blystone are fighting to distinguish themselves as the most viable alternative to DeWine. A nod from Lindell could help that quest. 

It appeared on Friday morning that Renacci had won the pillow fight – until he hadn't. 

A few hours after Renacci touted the endorsement, Cincinnati-area chemist Douglas Frank, who is also a purveyor of election falsehoods, shared a text message chain that he said was between him and a baffled Lindell. 

"Everyone is atwitter in Ohio, wondering why you would endorse an establishment RINO who has been calling you a nutjob for over a year," Frank, who backs Blystone for governor, wrote in a text message to Lindell.

"Tell them I am not endorsing him !!!!" Lindell supposedly replied to Frank. 

But the Renacci campaign didn't waver. A spokesman said Renacci's running mate Joe Knopp had spoken with Lindell three times that day.

Then came Lindell's Facebook livestream. 

"So that is not true with Jim – Reh-NAH-she or NAH-key, NAH-she? – endorsement. That is not true," Lindell said. The proper pronunciation is reh-NAY-see.

Shortly after, Renacci adviser Brad Parscale responded on Facebook, saying Lindell had promised his endorsement to friend Knopp in text messages.  

"Well I thought Mike Lindell was an honorable man. I was wrong," Parscale wrote. "Giving your word to someone and then calling them a liar is the worst. Especially a friend. Mike, sad to see what you have become."

On Saturday morning, Renacci's campaign still sent out text messages to Republicans touting the endorsement. Even now, Renacci spokesman Tom Weyland called the Lindell endorsement "pending" rather than completely off the table. The two will both be in Canton together.

The Lindell debacle comes as a possible Trump endorsement looms over the GOP primary. Trump backed Renacci in the 2018 race for U.S. Senate against Democrat Sherrod Brown, sending then-Vice President Mike Pence to campaign for Renacci. But Renacci ultimately lost that race, so it's unclear whether Trump would endorse him again. 

Was the DeWine campaign paying any attention as the Lindell endorsement was laid to rest? Campaign manager Brenton Temple tweeted that night: "lmk (let me know) if you have any good pillow recommendations." 

Original source can be found here.