MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is campaigning for Minnesota governor by giving away copies of his autobiography, paid for with campaign funds.
The 64-year-old, whom President Donald Trump, 79, dubbed “THE Pillow Guy,” announced his run for Minnesota governor in December. Since then, he has spent roughly $187,000 of the $356,000 raised in the first two weeks of his campaign on copies of his own book, What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO.
“When we’re going around to all the places in Minnesota, other people are giving a flyer,” Lindell told the Minnesota Reformer at the beginning of February, adding that, instead of that tactic, he is “giving them the whole book so they know who I am.”
Lindell—who has become an outspoken 2020 election denier, even going so far as to accuse “Satan” of rigging the election against Trump—has spent millions spreading the conspiracy.
In June, Lindell was ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages for defaming a former Dominion Voting Systems employee, and had claimed even before the judgment that he was several million dollars in debt.
“I can’t self-fund. I don’t have any money left,” Lindell told a reporter when asked whether he would pay for his campaign out of pocket.
Instead, he has collected campaign donations to buy his book, priced at $19.97, as he seeks the Republican nomination for governor to run against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
The book is described as “a raw, authentic account by a man many thought would never rise above his serial, addiction-fueled failures,” with Lindell opening up about his life as a recovering crack addict and his eventual transformation into a devoted evangelical Christian and CEO.
While Lindell’s autobiography emphasizes his message to voters—that he will support “those of you struggling with addiction”—he faces the reality that Republicans have not won a statewide office in Minnesota since 2006.
The Daily Beast has contacted Lindell’s campaign for comment.
