Mike Lindell on Trump endorsement: 'It came as a complete surprise'

Gubernatorial candidate and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell joined FOX 9 Morning News on Sunday to discuss getting President Trump's endorsement this past week.

Trump endorses Lindell

The backstory:

In a message posted to TruthSocial on Thursday, the president wrote in part: "Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity. He truly deserves everything he gets - He will MAKE MINNESOTA GREAT AGAIN!!! MIKE LINDELL HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT - HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN."

The endorsement wasn't a huge surprise as Lindell has been one of President Trump's most loyal supporters over the years. But it's an endorsement that's likely to give Lindell an edge as early voting is underway in the Republican primary.

Lindell speaks with FOX 9

What they're saying:

Lindell joined FOX 9 on Sunday to discuss the Trump endorsement and his gubernatorial campaign.

Lindell on the endorsement

Mike Lindell: "Back on December 8th, when I decided I was going to run… my wife was the only one that knew. I called the president and I told him I was going to run for governor of Minnesota. And I didn't ask him for his endorsement, I wanted it based on merit, not on friendship. So it came, he's watched my campaign so far, and it came as a complete surprise. I was getting texts in the morning and I've been so honored to get it based on how our campaign is going. I've been polling in the last five polls statewide, I've done polling number one, and I think he might've watched that. And I have talked to him since then, since the endorsement and thanked him. That's all I did. I said, thank you so much for believing in me and for that I'm going to get the job done and help Minnesota become affordable again."

Budget plan coming soon

Mike Lindell: "The main thing I'm running on in Minnesota is to make it affordable again. I've got great plans, I'm going to be putting out my budget in less than three weeks now. And everyone's going to see as I put out the marketing for what I'm going do and for my budget. I think people are going to be very surprised. We have common sense solutions to our problems in Minnesota."

Not afraid of bipartisan policy

Mike Lindell: "It's hard to believe what you're hearing out there with this poll and this poll… I moved up [to] 30 points in the polls… I think it shows I'm not just everything… that the president's endorsement is great. But when people see my budget – I actually was on another station, I won't name one of your competitors – and I told them about one of my programs that I'm that I am going to put out with the illegal immigrants. She said, ‘Well the Republicans and the president might not like that,’ and I said it doesn't matter to me. This is for the people, it's help for all the people in Minnesota. This isn't a party thing."

PoliticsMike Lindell