Dem
51
GOP
49
One wonders what Mike Lindell's politics were before Donald Trump came along. Was the MyPillow guy a Republican? A Libertarian? Someone who didn't participate in the political process at all? It's an interesting question. In any case, he's now a completely dedicated devotee of the Dear Leader. The only person Lindell wants in the White House is The Donald—absolutely not anyone else, no matter how Trumpy they might be.
If there were any questions on this point, they were resolved this week when Lindell decided to turn his attention to the man who is currently Trump's #1 rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). Even OAN and Newsmax are loath to have Lindell on anymore, in part because he's 10 pounds of crazy in a 5-pound bag and in part because he's in the habit of saying things that can lead to lawsuits. So, most of his media appearances are now on "Lindell TV," which is an online "channel" that Lindell has pieced together.
Anyhow, Lindell appeared on the main Lindell TV "newscast," anchored by someone that nobody has ever heard of, to share his latest insight: DeSantis did not actually win the gubernatorial election in Florida. It actually took some time for Lindell to spill all the beans, because his lawyer kept stopping him and warning him not to say certain things. However, the basic theory is that the vote in Miami-Dade was tinkered with, and that county did not go red, despite what the election returns might say.
Inasmuch as Lindell is now the nation's foremost "expert" on stolen elections, he's promised to get to the bottom of this and to produce "proof" of his claims. We assume that proof will be forthcoming, right after he presents "proof" of his claims about the 2020 presidential elections, something that's been imminent for, oh, about 2 years.
DeSantis, for his part, has pointedly avoided taking sides when it comes to "stop the steal." He won't say the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, but he won't say it was legitimate, either. Further, he has spent much time campaigning with election deniers. So, between that and his "no comment" act, he has absolutely enabled election denial, even if he hasn't indulged personally.
And that brings us to the point. At risk of being glib, there's a reason that Benito Mussolini ended up hanging from his heels in a town square in Milan. When leaders take the position that rules don't matter, and that might makes right, they are sending a message to their followers. And eventually, that message tends to rebound on those who first sent it. It's happened to Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy and John Boehner and Newt Gingrich and even to Donald Trump. Now, it's starting to happen to DeSantis. These folks were happy to fan the flames of far-right nuttiness, but then they lost control of the fire that they helped start. There's certainly some schadenfreude in that. (Z)