According to a report from NBC News, Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election -- that have been amplified by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell -- has created a "schism" between Republican Party leaders and GOP voters in conservative Idaho.
NBC's Allan Smith reports, Lindell taking up the banner of stolen votes set off an investigation in a state that the former president won by 30 points in 2020, and when the results showed no fraud, that angered some voters in the state.
"Last summer, Idaho officials received demand after demand to investigate extraordinary claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election," the report states. "With the backing of his boss, Republican Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, [Deputy Secretary of State Chad] Houck embarked on an inquiry tailored to Lindell’s allegations — which found them to be totally without merit."
Following the release of his report, Houck explained, "It used to be that we worried predominantly about counter information and disinformation, misinformation coming from China, Russia, Iran. And now we have to add to that list concerns about disinformation that’s produced domestically. That’s very unfortunate.”
That, in turn, angered followers of Trump and Lindell.
Writing, "Idaho’s work combatting Lindell only seems to have made supporters of his fraud narrative angrier, Houck said, and has set the stage for midterm battles along fault lines Republicans are contending with nationwide," Smith added, "Houck had been running in the GOP primary for secretary of state — a contest that included multiple candidates willing to embrace the fraud claims pushed by Lindell, Trump and others — but withdrew in December."
According to the now-former candidate, "You’re starting to see it fracture the party into different schisms when you start defining the primary by whether or not 2020 was corrupt. And when that’s a binary answer of yes or no that measures that, that’s problematic.”
The NBC report adds, "In the overwhelmingly red state, Idaho’s primary elections hold far greater significance than the November general election. And there’s no shortage of Republicans battling ahead of the May primary contest, including over the fraud claims."
That scenario is what prompted Houck to drop out.
"Houck, who said he plans to continue working in the elections said he dropped out of the race in part because of the threats he said he faced from people angry with how he’s handled Lindell’s claims," the report notes with the lawmaker admitting, "I did not want to subject my family to the kinds of threats we were starting to see over this issue. I had someone actually approach my daughter in a threatening manner over this issue. She’s 17. That’s out of line.”
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