'Huge embarrassment' for Trump as 'raving' MAGA candidate refuses to concede: reports

President Donald Trump suffered another withering defeat Tuesday night when a close and high-profile ally lost his primary race — and told the media he wouldn't concede.

Trump "suffered one of his biggest endorsement losses of the cycle," when MyPillow founder Mike Lindell's bid to be the GOP nominee in the Minnesota governor race crashed and burned, Politico reported Wednesday.

Mike Lindell — a close ally of the president who was at the forefront of his 2020 election denialism — fell to Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Minnesota's gubernatorial primary.

Lindell's loss — immediately subjected to much online mockery — marks the third defeat for Trump-backed candidates in two weeks, following GOP Rep. Andy Ogles' loss last Thursday and Trump's pick in a Michigan House race who fell to a candidate who had withdrawn from the race, Politico reported.

Though Lindell was outspent significantly in his bid, his proximity to Trump, name recognition among MAGA supporters, and limited polling had positioned him as a legitimate contender -- but to no avail.

The report notes that Trump's endorsement power has particularly struggled in gubernatorial races this cycle. GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra fell to Zach Lahn in Iowa, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones lost to billionaire Rick Jackson in Georgia, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette lost in South Carolina, where Trump later offered a dual endorsement to Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Political commentator Mike Nellis characterized the losses as evidence that the president is a "lame duck."

"He was doomed in the general against Klobuchar, but Mike Lindell falling short in Minnesota is a HUGE embarrassment to Trump after his endorsement," Nellis wrote on X. "He looks more and more like a lame duck every single day."

Fox News contributor Robert Wolf noted the broader pattern of defeats.

"Brutal night for Trump and the MAGA wing as My Pillow Guy Mike Lindell loses his primary election for Governor of Minnesota and moderate David Crowley defeats democratic socialist Francesca Hong in the Wisconsin governor primary," Wolf wrote on X.

Ron Filipkowski wrote on X that at "ranting and raving" Lindell told reporters he wasn't going to concede even as reports showed that with 95% of the vote in, Demuth led Lindell 43 percent to 32 percent.

"I'm not going to give up this race until the votes are counted," he said.