MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is questioning whether Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) legitimately won his reelection bid in Miami-Dade County, saying on his streaming show Tuesday: “I don’t believe it.”
Lindell is a big supporter of former President Trump who has made baseless charges about electoral fraud in the past. DeSantis has emerged as perhaps the most dangerous rival to Trump in a 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Trump has already announced his candidacy. DeSantis has not said if he will run for president.
Lindell specifically questioned the big victory DeSantis won in Miami-Dade County on “The Lindell Report.”
The county, which has traditionally gone for Democrats in past elections, swung for DeSantis during the Florida gubernatorial race by 11 points.
No evidence of fraud has circulated and before the election, a number of observers had pointed to the county and suggested that DeSantis had a chance to pull off a big victory.
But Lindell went after DeSantis over Miami-Dade.
“What we’re doing now is I’m going after [Miami-]Dade County and the 2022 election,” Lindell said.
“I look at deviations, everybody. That’s a deviation. I don’t believe it,” Lindell said, later adding that “I’m going to find out if [Miami-]Dade County – what happened there, because it’s a deviation from norm.”
The MyPillow CEO is being sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems regarding his comments about the 2020 election and their voting machines. Lindell has pushed dubious claims about the 2020 election, similar to Trump, despite the fact that no widespread fraud was found and multiple audits in different states have affirmed the states’ original results in the 2020 election.
Multiple polls show DeSantis, whose 19-point win in November was widely celebrated among Republicans during the midterms, surging past Trump.
While Republican candidates and other members of the party have often targeted election denialism claims at Democrats, the MyPillow CEO’s comments are unusually targeted at another Republican.