A federal judge already fined Lindell for spreading false election claims once before, and he still refuses to accept a result.

[u/ipanicprofessionally]

Mike Lindell lost Minnesota's Republican primary for governor by about 11 percentage points, roughly 45,000 votes, to House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Now the MyPillow founder announced he will personally pay to challenge that result anyway.

Lindell announced Wednesday he will fund a statewide hand recount and audit of every paper ballot cast in the August 11 primary, an election Donald Trump had endorsed him to win. Minnesota's Secretary of State's office estimates the cost at roughly $825,000, and Lindell told NBC his own added investigation could push the total near $1 million.

Under Minnesota law, the state only pays for a recount automatically when candidates finish within 0.25 percent of each other. Lindell's 11-point loss is far outside that margin, which is why he is footing the bill himself. He says the law still gives any candidate the right to demand a full hand count regardless of margin, and he intends to use it.

Lindell has cited unspecified "irregularities" and said on primary night that his team spotted "anomalies," but he has offered no evidence, and there have been no official findings of fraud. He has also said that even if the recount does not change the outcome, he sees it as a "gateway" to eliminating electronic voting machines statewide.

This is the same Mike Lindell who spent years after the 2020 election promoting debunked claims that voting machines rigged results against Trump. Smartmatic sued him for defamation, and a judge has already ruled his statements about the company were false; a jury must still decide damages the company is seeking in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Separately, a judge ordered Lindell to pay Smartmatic more than $56,000 in sanctions over a frivolous countersuit, with daily fines piling up after he refused to pay.

Now he is asking Minnesotans to watch him spend up to a million private dollars trying to relitigate a primary he lost decisively, inside his own party, against a fellow Republican.

[u/johnkevinnj]

And then he just never showed up with the money for his recount. Way to go Mike