MyPillow boss Mike Lindell is '100% running' to unseat RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel


Beleaguered MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announced on Monday that he would challenge longtime Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel for the party's leadership at the RNC's meeting in January.
"I am 100% running for the RNC chairman against Ronna McDaniel," Lindell declared during an interview with former White House adviser Stephen Bannon. "One of the big donors said to me, he said, 'Mike, everybody wants you to be head of the RNC, some of them just don't know it yet,'" he continued.
Speaking with Axios, the outspoken supporter of Donald Trump denied that the former president had influenced his decision to run for RNC chair, telling the outlet that "I did not call him and say, 'What do you think about this?' "This is my decision."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lindell's announcement comes after days of telegraphing his intent to oust McDaniel, who has increasingly come under fire from within her own party, following the GOP's lackluster showing in the recent midterm elections. McDaniel, however, has reportedly locked in the backing of the majority of RNC members who will elect their next chair in January. Lindell, meanwhile, has largely spent the past several years in the spotlight for his wild, conspiratorial proclamations, and for having his phone seized by FBI investigators at a Minnesota Hardee's drive-through.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies