Just how eager is Texas State Sen. Mayes Middleton to tie himself to the Trump brand as he runs for Texas Attorney General?
Eager enough that he self-applied the nickname “MAGA Middleton” in campaign ads.
Apparently that worked well enough that it landed him in a Republican primary runoff with fellow culture warrior U.S. Rep. Chip Roy. (Although observers note that Middleton’s decision to sink as much as $15 million of his family’s oil fortune into the campaign didn’t hurt either.)
Over the weekend, Middleton took his Trump fealty one step further by touting an endorsement from Mike Lindell on his social media channels. Yes, the “My Pillow Guy” who incessantly blathers about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump.
That Mike Lindell.
“No one has fought harder for President Trump and election integrity than Mike Lindell,” Middleton said in an online announcement showing he and Lindell photoshopped together against a red background. “Proud to have his endorsement. He knows the difference between talk and action — and in Texas, we deliver results.”
For his part, Lindell praised Middleton for the litany of culture war bills he championed in the Texas Lege, including Senate Bill 10, which required posters of the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Multiple judges have since ruled that law violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state — and its future is still being hashed out in court.
“Texas needs a MAGA warrior as its next Attorney General. Mayes Middleton is a fighter with a record of winning,” Lindell gushed in his endorsement of the firebrand state senator. “He banned men from girls’ sports and kicked trans perverts out of women’s restroom restrooms. He also fought to get the Ten Commandments and prayer back in schools. I’m proud to endorse Mayes Middleton for Attorney General.”
While it’s clear the two far-right blowhards share common ground, it’s a little surprising to see Middleton bragging about an endorsement from a figure whose over-the-top antics are so absurd that they’ve become fuel for countless punchlines and parodies by late-night TV comedians.
After all, Lindell got his own product booted from big box retailers’ shelves because he couldn’t stop making outrageous claims about Trump being robbed of victory in the 2020 election. He even personally bankrolled a feature-length movie packed with so many bullshit election-fraud claims that it was taken down by multiple online channels.
Adding to the financial folly, a Denver jury last year found that Lindell defamed a former employee of a prominent voting equipment company by calling him a traitor and ordered the pillow peddler and his online media platform to cough up $2.3 million in damages.
Whatever Middleton’s reasoning for publicly aligning himself with the My Pillow Guy, plenty of social media users dragged the state senator over the judgment displayed in picking his allies.
“The SNL skits write themselves,” Carrie West Harper posted in response to the senator’s Facebook post.
“Was Ted Nugent not available?” inquired David Kergo.
“That you would accept an endorsement from Mike Lindell says all we need to know,” Thomas Pruett responded.
“Who’s next? This guy?” inquired Shawn Byers, sharing a parody of Mayes’ announcement with January 6th Qanon Shaman pictured in Lindell’s place.
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