Lindell, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly pushed disproven voter-fraud conspiracy theories about the presidential election, prompting the voting-machine company Dominion to sue him for $1.3 billion.
Some attendees at Monday s event brought along Trump merchandise, including hats and flags. Salon.com s Zachary Petrizzo reported that a group of far-right Proud Boy members attended, citing a source at the event.
The event featured talks from Ben Carson, Trump s secretary of housing and urban development, who joined on video call, and the conservative podcaster Eric Metaxas. The comedian Joe Piscopo of Saturday Night Live fame performed a music set, which included the national anthem.
Mike Lindell Falsely Claims Trump Got 80 Million Votes, Was on Course to Win All Swing States
On 5/10/21 at 11:17 PM EDT
My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell has falsely claimed that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election with 80 million votes. Lindell also claimed that Trump would have won six key battleground states if election fraudsters hadn t rigged the vote against him.
Lindell made his claims on Monday evening at an in-person, indoor rally in the Corn Palace, an arena in Mitchell, South Dakota. During the event, Lindell claimed that on Election Night, people rigged voting machines against Trump. However, the riggers underestimated the number of votes Trump would win, Lindell claimed.
We re certainly aware of some of the controversy,
Corn Palace official Doug Greenway told Insider.
The day rate for the venue was $1,750, plus fees for light and sound.
In the days since Mike Lindell, chief executive of MyPillow, announced he d be holding a rally at the Corn Palace in South Dakota, the venue s management has been fielding phone calls from about 30 people a day.
That s an amazing number of calls for the venue, director Doug Greenway told Insider via phone. The Palace is in Mitchell, a city with a population of about 15,000. No one has said: Oh, gosh, why are you having this person? It s, like, How do we get in and when s it open? he said.