https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/biggest-tv-networks-deliver-crushing-blow-to-trump/ar-AA285gNz
With embedded short video. That speech was fiction. Start to finish. The elections were secure, there was not any significant fraud, and he doesn't bitch about voting fraud possibility when he won. A piece of work.
[UPDATE: Crabgrass located the Strib paywalled item carried by MSN, here, without paywalling. Analysis below was posted prior than that discovery. It is the most complete analysis Crabgrass found differentiating between the two primary campaigns. Readers are urged to take advantage of unpaywalled access]
Going into a local legislative DFL primary, two candidates have gained more than district-wide attention to be the general election opponent to whoever the Republican candidate is. The District has been largely a Dem voting one, over recent time..
Neither of the two could get the party supermajority required for endorsement but that did not stop the old school types playing favorites for their incumbent stiff, against the reform-oriented challenger. But it is how old school operates, making reform necessary.
Strib has paywalled coverage.
Hoodline, a local coverage provider links to the Strib item, and writes:
Endorsements, money and competing narratives
Latz has lined up backing from high-profile state Democrats, and the Senate DFL caucus is spending to hang on to his seat. Dumalag, meanwhile, has secured support from the district’s two House members and St. Louis Park’s mayor. Her campaign is pitching the race as a mandate for urgency, especially on housing and neighborhood engagement. "It’s about the people of this district, and for the first time in 20 years there is a choice," Dumalag said, as reported by the Star Tribune.
Latz's record and role in St. Paul
Latz chairs the Minnesota Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and argues that seniority and relationships translate into concrete wins for his constituents. [...]
Dumalag’s pitch for faster change
Dumalag, a commercial real-estate broker, spent five years on the St. Louis Park City Council and has centered her campaign on affordable-housing advocacy and deep neighborhood outreach. [...]
Convention drama and immigration politics
The March district convention ended in a stalemate, with no DFL endorsement and delegates split between the two candidates, which pushed the final decision to the August primary. Many Dumalag supporters say they were galvanized by this winter’s immigration enforcement operations and the neighborhood organizing that followed. The convention deadlock and the role of immigration enforcement in the race were detailed by the Star Tribune.
Why the result matters beyond the district
SD46 is widely expected to stay in DFL hands in November, but the primary looms large because Democrats control the Minnesota Senate by a single seat and every member helps decide committee chairs and what legislation can move. That razor-thin margin means the choice St. Louis Park Democrats make in August could ripple into what the DFL can realistically pass at the Capitol, according to Bring Me The News.
What to watch next
The primary is set for August 11, and both Latz and Dumalag appear on the state’s official candidate list and elections calendar. Voters can expect the volume to turn up as that date approaches, with more mail pieces and digital ads highlighting contrasts between the incumbent and the challenger, per the Minnesota Secretary of State and the Minnesota Secretary of State.
So, old school vs build-it-better. It's a shame Strib paywalls. But the fight of traditional local news outlets for survival is real. Mailer mischief, or was it innocent error, has become a clouding issue. When old ways and new aims collide, the choice can stand best on the issues and how the candidates see things.
Interesting coverage from during the last legislative session seems relevant, even if not directly related to the current primary contest:
Democrat Senators Ron Latz (SD46) and Susan Pha (SD38) were on separate sides of the issue on a piece of legislation and this led to personal attacks being launched each way! The bill, SF1750, altered regulations surrounding Home Owner Associations. While this bill would have normally resulted in a mundane floor debate, Latz and Pha implied that the other was a liar when considering whether to accept the House's amendments to the bill! This mostly took place following Pha's speech where she contended with Latz and Judy Seeberger's (SD41) opposition. See video HERE.
Latz was looking at the legislation with a careful microscope after decades of passing unconstitutional, multi-subject, thousand page omnibus bills! Where was Ron Latz in 2024 when Democrats combined multiple omnibus bills into the Omnibus-Prime legislation totally nearly 1,500 pages! It seems he only wants to be meticulous when it comes to protecting tyrannical Home Owner Associations!
One reason Latz and Pha may be willing to let their internal political disputes be seen in the public eye is that they have nothing to lose! They are both facing left-wing primary challenges and know their days in the Capitol may be numbered!
Ron Latz was first elected to the legislature 24 years ago in 2002 and is the son of a politician who also was in the legislature. He now faces a competitive primary challenge from St. Louis city councilmember Lynette Dumalag after neither were able to claim the local party endorsement. Latz is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee and has been desperately pushing radical gun control to try to save his political career. Lynette Dumalag has a long list of endorsements, which even includes one of the Representatives in his district, [now both] radical leftist Larry Kraft (46A). Latz likely also suffers with Democrats due to his support for Israel. On the campaign finance front, Dumalag had roughly $24,883 cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2025 and Latz had roughly $107,604 cash on hand as of the same date.
Like Ron Latz’ situation, Susan Pha is also not endorsed by the local party after neither she or her Democratic opponent, leftist activist Nehemiah Garley, could reach the 60% endorsement threshold. Garley had roughly $862 cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2025 and Pha had roughly $838 cash on hand as of the same date. Garley appears to be supported by several legislators including one of the Representatives of the district, Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley (38A). Following the convention Momanyi-Hiltsley posted a misleading congratulations on Facebook for Garley, making many readers think he is endorsed when he isn’t! See below: [...]
A strategic conservative would utilize and exploit the Democrats’ lack of unity to its fullest extent. Democrats have ram-rodded their radical agenda through and there is finally a chink in their armor! They are divided, in conflict, and weak! Now is the time for conservatives to strike!
So, the other party's print advocate has a look and opinion. The upshot of the long quote is that the Dems are presently looking at a Dem leg super-entrenched fixture, vs new thoughts, while the GOP is having its own internal problems nationally, while locally intact in a MN House split down the middle.
While the GOP is not likely to pick up the seat if Latz looses the primary, they hope.
What is really at stake, old ways against new ideas. The ICE invasion of the state has had its impact, in that Ron Latz was absent and Lynette Dumalag was a part of the entire metro communities' awakened reaction against the heavyhandedness, hatefulness and overbearing stupidity of ICE aims and behavior.
Will the challenge carry the day? This MN local senate district contest has gained more attention than others, and may be a barometer of sorts.
And Crabgrass in headlining has disclosed a progressive bias that favors the challenger over the incumbent. Regular readers would already know about that.
_____________UPDATE_____________
While the Republican outlet's claiming Latz went over this particular bill with a microscope, after watching their linked proceedings video, it seems impossible to dispute that claim. He was quite long-winded. Tediously so, some might think. Smoothly so. What I did not hear from Latz, where words matter, any disclosure of any pecuniary personal interest at stake.
The MSN carry of the Strib locally authored item states:
He lists two rental condos in his district on his economic interest disclosure with the state Campaign Finance Board. Latz has said his wife rents out the units and he has little to do with them.
When Homowner Association restraints and regulations, procedural can and cannot do rules are under discussion, and you have a pecuniary interest in two rental units (presumably under separate oversight bodies each with its own covenants, conditions and restrictions) disclosure of that pecuniary stake at the start and in summary would be best practice, since both rental units are under Association jurisdictions, {unless extreme unusual practices not included in reporting exist). Law governing condominiums in Minnesota likely mandate it. But to take the unusual step of tedious time-consuming nitpicking of stuff and then voting for approval of the entire bill as passed to the MN Senate from the other chamber is - quaint. You object so much and look as if wanting to stall a passage, lose the postponement effort, and then take the safe Dem vote to approve a citizen protective thing is what Latz did.
Latz may have disclosed his pecuniary interest, and Crabgrass missed it. But the question, in an election is important. Are you voting for someone who both favors and practice.s transparency, or not? Latz is not a legislative novice. Twenty years on the hill in St Paul I believe. Disclosure of a pecuniary interest, even if indirect, is a generally known norm. It is not a novice being tripped up over some fine point; it is as it seems, Latz gave no disclosure. Knew or should have known disclosure was approprite for his colleagues to weigh his concerns. Twenty years.
Others, especially the Dumalag campaign should pin things down. Disclosure or not. Yes or no? Did he or did he not?
Not that it really matters.
Strib carries a paywalled editorial,
Brehm: Minnesota Republicans, please ignore Trump’s endorsement of the MyPillow guy
Nominating Mike Lindell would give Democrats a cakewalk to holding the governor’s office, making another disastrous DFL trifecta likely.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Well, the footer identifies the author
Andy BrehmContributing ColumnistAndy Brehm is a contributing columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s a corporate lawyer and previously served as U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s press secretary.
Ah, so Norm Coleman's guy says the Pillow Guy is a trainwreck. Taking way too many words to say it. His ending paragraph:
Minnesota voters already know Lindell, and they don’t like him. His polling is brutal. The June Star Tribune/KARE 11/Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Minnesota Poll tested the top three Republicans candidates for governor against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. House Speaker Lisa Demuth trailed by just eight points, 40% to 48%. But Lindell trailed by 17 points, 36% to 53%, buried in a hole no Republican could climb out of in this purplish state.
Seems a bit lacking, an undated poll result. Before or after the endorsement? UPDATE: My bad. Reading past the "June" poll disclosure - a poll from before the magic endorsement. Begging the question, but at least disclosing doing it to favor his dog in the hunt.
Doesn't this Brehm guy know a Trump endorsement is the gold standard? Where's he been? Mars? Pillow Guy will coast to a telling victory in November with that endorsement.
Watch. MAGA will show him.
Again, Republicans of Minnesota. Dump the other contests. Put your contribution money - all if it - behind Lindell. It will be well spent, toward better government arising from November voting.
========================================
Readers who follow that Brehm link in the headlining will see a presentation of the man's prior Strib op-ed output. That listing is not paywalled. Way to go, Strib.
 |
| This is not a joke. It is real. |
Strib reports Donald Trump endorses Mike Lindell as fit to govern the State of Monnesots. I'd think it was a joke but Strib does not joke. IT IS TRUE. THE PILLOW GUY. No qualifications. A bankrupt business, the guy needs a paycheck, and Trump steps up, and says, "Be Governor." What kind of shit is that? Strib -
Trump went on to write that “nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity. ... MIKE LINDELL HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT - HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.”
Trump’s endorsements have often proven to be beneficial for candidates across the country during primary campaigns. The president has often made endorsements as retaliation to sitting officeholders he believes did not support his political agenda at one time or another.
In an interview Wednesday, Lindell said he believes Trump’s backing will carry him to victory over Demuth and Qualls. He pointed to some polls that found the president’s endorsement would boost him to first place.
“My mind is just rolling because I’m so excited,” Lindell said, adding that he did not know the endorsement was coming Wednesday.
NO PAYWALL - PiPress carries the AP version of the story.
President Donald Trump has endorsed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor, praising him as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots” and giving formal backing to a fellow election denier a day before the Republican president delivers a national address he says will focus on election security.
Lindell established his national profile from his TV advertising campaign as the MyPillow Guy and has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, echoing the president’s false claims that his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was fraudulent.
“Mike will be SPECTACULAR!!! He truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment.
The man is not qualified for the office. He sold pillows, and that's not running a statewide budget and multiple agencies.
It's selling fucking pillows. No more. No less. Exactly that. All he's ever done.
_________________UPDATE________________
Also NO PAYWALL, MinnesotaReformer - https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/07/15/trump-endorses-mike-lindell-for-minnesota-governor/ --- also locally written coverage as with Strib, not a national feed.
[Neat image in original, not included here]
President Donald Trump endorsed Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor Wednesday, boosting the MyPillow CEO’s campaign weeks before the Aug. 11 GOP primary.
Lindell is squaring off against House Speaker Lisa Demuth and retired health care executive and Army veteran Kendall Qualls, who won the endorsement at the state GOP convention in the spring.
Trump has a near perfect record when it comes to endorsing in GOP primaries this year. Democrats are eager to run against Lindell given his foibles — the Reformer recently reported he hasn’t paid nearly $50,000 in property taxes on his Tonka Bay home, for instance. Lindell can’t be underestimated, however: He has a prodigious media machine that can generate a constant stream of content about himself.
Trump and Lindell have been friendly for years, so the president’s endorsement is not surprising.
“(Lindell) truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment. He can do it!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “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.”
In a Reformer interview, Lindell said Trump’s endorsement will allow him to focus on fundraising and plan ahead to the November general election.
“It just brings a lot more hope. I can be a lot more proactive. I’m not gonna let up on winning the primary and take it for granted. That’s not me,” Lindell said. “I can put a lot more focus on — not taking the primary for granted — but focused on getting money and doing the planning of how we’re going to market now going against Amy Klobuchar.”
Lindell, Qualls and Demuth all said they would have welcomed Trump’s endorsement despite the president losing in Minnesota in 2016, 2020 and 2024, and his 41% approval rating in the state, according to a Star Tribune/KARE 11/Hubbard School of Journalism poll released last month.
More? The item continues -
The winner of the August primary election will face presumptive Democratic nominee for governor Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is amassing a massive fundraising advantage and is Minnesota’s most proven vote-getter.
Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Alex Plechash in a statement denounced Lindell, stating he was not an electable candidate, especially against Klobuchar.
“When the going got tough under Tim Walz, Mike Lindell left Minnesota for Texas. Now he wants Minnesota Republicans to overlook his serious financial baggage, public records showing tens of thousands in delinquent property taxes, significant electability concerns and unanswered questions surrounding his running mate,” Plechash said. “Minnesota cannot afford to nominate a ticket that gives Democrats an easy target and creates the very real possibility of another DFL trifecta.”
Lindell says he’s spent millions of dollars promoting baseless claims about widespread election fraud in the 2020 election — which Trump cited in his endorsement. Trump has remained fixated on conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and on Thursday he’s expected to deliver a primetime address about voting machines and election integrity.
Lindell on Wednesday also praised the timing of Trump’s endorsement.
“What perfect timing on the heels of tomorrow night’s big announcement of declassifying all the evidence from the 2020 election that you guys (the media) have called me a liar,” Lindell said.
A June poll found Lindell leading the race over Qualls and Demuth, though primary polling is notoriously difficult. Klobuchar had a significant lead in a potential match-up with Lindell, 53% to Lindell’s 36%.
I am not a particular fan of Klobuchar. But really. A sick joke of a pillow shill, vs Amy, yeah, okay, Amy's better. Super far from being anywhere near being a progressive, but Klobuchar is better than THE PILLOW GUY. An easy call. But Amy has primary opponents too. Not that that matters.
And again, Tina Smith would have been far better for the job than Amy. After all, she'd run the state while Mark Dayton was the figurehead, so she's experienced.
But Amy it will be.
__________________FURTHER UPDATE________________
After some reflection, a challenge. Republican Minnesotans, if you disagree and think the Pillow Guy is a viable candidate (he can fog a mirror) then put your money behind his campaign. Forget about Emmer, Stauber, the rest down ticket, legislature seats, City or Ramsey Council, damn all that - push for the belief that the Trump endorsement is political gold. That MAGA can push and shove Lindell to victory
Plunge your bucks for Lindell. You could do more that way than otherwise, for good government in your beloved Minnesota. Think it over.
After all is said and done, MinnReformer did note in a previously unquoted paragraph
According to Ballotpedia News, 97% of Trump-endorsed candidates won their primaries this election cycle. Trump-endorsed candidates in 2026 primaries have won 220 of the 227 races so far. This is similar to 2020 when 98% of Trump-endorsed candidates won their primaries.
So, see. It works. MAGA needs your money behind Lindell. Invest it that way. Otherwise, what kind of a Republican are you? If not a MAGA one.
This turned up. Third return item on the list.
The progress came as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine on Monday, and Houston prosecutors complained the administration was still withholding critical information in their investigation into a fatal shooting by an ICE officer last week.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the evidence turned over by U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen’s office included previously withheld hard drives containing statements, police body camera video and other materials in the Minnesota killings. Federal prosecutors also turned over Good’s badly damaged SUV, she said.
“The wonderful thing now is we have all the evidence,” Moriarty said. “Any time the government is responsible in whatever way of taking the life of a community member we need to have a full and thorough investigation.”
In Maine, another killing by the Stephen Miller fascisti. Who'd have expected it?
Order itself, 57 p. - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.106.0.pdf
EmptyWheel analysis - https://emptywheel.net/2026/07/14/judge-kathleen-williams-hoists-the-unitarians-on-their-fraudulent-petards/?unapproved=1150107&moderation-hash=b9a895b2c0855afbc93d007d474a0b8f
AP published analysis - https://apnews.com/article/trump-irs-justice-department-61adebe5de8982eb214b30889ad4f251
Readers might notice the EmptyWheel headline: "Judge Kathleen Williams Hoists the Unitarians on Their Fraudulent Petards"
My first impression was the Unitarians are no worse than the Catholics, but then the accompanying EmptyWheel exigesis made the sense in which the headline spoke clear - not those church-going Unitarians, so read on, three links. Perhaps AP is the better start.
The lawyers in the sham did come into a critique of their rectitude, doing as they did. It seemed to go beyond judgment they'd shown in their actions, to rectitude.
Like - they knew better. Believing they could push that sack of shit past the Judge insulted her judgment and ability to smell it. It is important, so do some follow-up reading.
UPDATE: Trump, in cooking up and then engineering that sham, was patently offensive with no redeeming social merit.
FURTHER: MinnesotaReformer carries that paper's consortium's reporting, saying in effect what the UPDATE said, using headlining:
[...]
“No sitting President has ever sued federal agencies completely subject to his control for monetary benefits, or any benefits that inure to him, his family, and associates. The failure of any attorney in this case to address, on this docket, the relationship of this Article II proscription with the benefits conferred by the ‘settlement’ is a glaring omission that speaks to the control of the Lead Plaintiff,” Williams wrote in the 56-page order.
[...]
Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization are “prohibited from referring to the purported ‘settlement agreement,’ or using, offering, admitting, or citing any of its provisions in any judicial, administrative, regulatory, arbitration, or any other official proceeding as evidence of a ‘settlement’ reached in this matter,” Williams wrote.
Further, she ordered the Trumps and their company to reimburse fees for attorneys appointed by the court to examine Trump’s case against the IRS, an agency under his control as president.
35 former judges
The president and his family sued the IRS in January over the late 2019 leak of their tax information to news media by a government contractor. The contractor had already been sentenced for the leak in early 2024.
The creation of the “anti-weaponization” fund sparked lawsuits, including from two former police officers who deployed to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump’s IRS case was revived in late May when 35 former federal judges intervened, arguing the settlement fund was “a product of collusion and is itself a fraud on the Court.”
Lawyers representing the former federal judges hailed Williams’ ruling.
“The court’s opinion is a resounding victory for the rule of law. We are proud to represent these former judges in presenting the arguments that the court adopted,” according to a statement from Norm Eisen, co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action, Matt Platkin, founding partner of Platkin LLP, and Susman Godfrey.
I believe I said Trump is patently offensive, with no redeeming social value. In this circumstance, so are his two oldest offspring. And his - let it go. Presuming sense in the electorate, after January 20 of next year, the hearings will buzz. House and Senate.
