'Pillow over Minnesota's face': Trump stuns with surprising early morning endorsement

President Donald Trump's decision to endorse ally Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor early Wednesday morning stunned critics who argued it would hand victory to the Democrats.

Lindell, known as the founder of My Pillow and an outspoken election denier, will face off with Republicans House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Kendall Qualls in the Minnesota August primary.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is expected to be the leading Democratic nominee and has gained a "massive fundraising advantage," according to the Minnesota Reformer.

Trump offered his "complete and total endorsement" of Lindell in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling the CEO "one of America's greatest and most hard working Patriots."

Critics online were quick to respond to the announcement.

"Trump endorsing Mike Lindell is the political equivalent of putting a pillow over Minnesota’s face," the account SundaeDivine, an active political commentator with more than 129,000 followers, wrote on X.

"The insurrection pillow man?This is a guaranteed way to give [Klobuchar] a huge landslide victory in the governor's race this November, heading right into the 2028 presidential primaries," law professor and former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard W. Painter wrote on X.

"Months after his ICE thugs terrorized Minnesota for months and murdered two of our citizens, Trump claims 'I love Minnesota' while endorsing Mike Lindell for governor. (Lindell has 0 chance of winning a general election here)," journalist Aaron Rupar wrote on X.

"Mike Lindell in Minnesota, Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin; election-denying gubernatorial candidates in the Midwest. The only difference is the mustache," political writer Dan Shafer wrote on X.