BISMARCK — Twin Cities businessman and Donald Trump supporter Mike Lindell represented Minnesota in the national roll call that launched the Republican National Convention on Monday afternoon, Aug. 24.
Lindell, the founder and CEO of the Minnesota-based company MyPillow, has been a close ally of Trump throughout his presidency, and was tapped to chair the Minnesota delegation at this year's Republican convention.
“This year, the terrible Democratic leadership in Minnesota made some of the worst decisions in history,” Lindell said in a brief statement during Minnesota's roll call. “This manifested into so much of the destruction of my great state and country.”
Lindell added that "traditional Democrats are flipping in Minnesota, and now they are Democrats for Trump." One recent poll suggests that Trump and Joe Biden are neck and neck in Minnesota, a state Hillary Clinton won by a narrow margin in 2016.
Earlier this month Lindell sparked widespread criticism when he touted an untested organic extract as a cure for COVID-19 during an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Health experts have said that the extract, called oleandrin, may be lethal, and Lindell serves on the board of the company that sells the product.
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Neighboring state North Dakota was represented at the RNC roll call by pro-life advocate John Trandem.
"North Dakota is the safest state in the nation because we respect life, because we value family, because we support private enterprise, because we exercise our Second Amendment rights, because we stand for our flag, for our military, for our police, and because we prayerfully support our president and vice president," Trandem said.
During the ceremonial roll call, both Minnesota and North Dakota cast all of their delegates for Trump — Minnesota contributing 39 and North Dakota contributing 29.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Adam Willis, a Report for America corps member, at awillis@forumcomm.com.
