Republican candidate for secretary of state Kim Crockett speaks at a news conference in the state Capitol on Oct. 20, 2022. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Republican secretary of state candidate Kim Crockett on Tuesday, calling her a “strong and wonderful woman” who can help “fix” election fraud, which he falsely claimed is rampant in Minnesota.
Trump posted on his conservative social media site Truth Social that Minnesota needs Crockett, a “smart and dedicated fighter.”
Crockett said in a press release that she was surprised to learn of the endorsement.
“I appreciate this unexpected vote of confidence,” she said, promising the office would be nonpartisan and “guard every eligible vote, no matter your party affiliation.”
Crockett may be happy, but Democrats may be even happier: Former Republican political operative Michael Brodkorb tweeted that within three hours of the endorsement, the DFL was raising money off it.
Crockett has proposed policies that would make it harder to vote by scaling back early voting, limiting absentee voting, requiring voters to show government-issued identification and ending same-day voter registration. Minnesota has historically boasted one of the highest voter turnout rates in the nation.
Crockett has called the 2020 election “rigged” and, last week, “lawless” because DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon signed a judicially approved consent decree that made it easier to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crockett is a member of the Election Integrity Network, led by Cleta Mitchell, a conservative election lawyer who tried to help Trump flip the Georgia election results. The EIN outfit is recruiting “an army of activists” to become poll workers, stoking fear among voting rights activists that they’ll try to intimidate voters.
“My overriding goal will be to boost confidence in elections from school boards to the governor’s office,” Crockett said Tuesday.
DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin issued a statement condemning Crockett for welcoming Trump’s endorsement.
“Just like Donald Trump, Kim Crockett is spreading dangerous lies about election fraud that undermine faith in democracy and tear at the fabric of our society,” Martin said. “Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, claims which Crockett has echoed, directly led to a violent attempt to overthrow the United States government.”
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