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."
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.