Former President Donald Trump endorses Minnesota's Kim Crockett, who called 2020 elections 'the big rig'

Kim Crockett, the Republican who is running to become Minnesota's chief elections officer, is the first statewide candidate in Minnesota to be endorsed by former President Donald Trump for this year's mid-terms.

Trump gave Crockett his endorsement for Secretary of State on his social media platform, Truth Social, in which he also falsely claimed Minnesota is a state "where election fraud is rampant."

"It’s time we had a smart and dedicated fighter in that very important position. Kim Crockett has my Complete & Total Endorsement. She will not let you down!!!" Trump posted.

Crockett is running to unseat DFLer Steve Simon, and her campaign has been punctuated by her belief in and propagation of conspiracy theories relating to the 2020 election and future elections.

The former vice president and general counsel for right-wing think tank Center of the American Experiment, Crockett has been a major proponent of "the big lie" regarding Trump's 2020 defeat to now-President Joe Biden, previously calling it "the big rig" and "our 9/11."

In the current campaign, she initially dodged a question about whether she would accept the results of the Nov. 8 mid-terms, though later said she would provided it's not so close as to require a recount.

There has been no evidence found in any state of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 elections.

Within an hour of Trump's endorsement dropping, the DFL was issuing fundraising emails, with DFL chairman Ken Martin saying: "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.

"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."

If elected, Crockett favors scrapping same-day voter registration – which allows people to register to vote at their precinct on election day provided they bring a photo ID and proof of address – as well as cutting down the length of early/absentee voting periods, measures that Democrats say would disenfranchise voters.

She has also attracted controversy after questioning during a 2020 radio interview if those with disabilities and non-English speakers should be allowed to vote. In May, she issued an apology after one of her campaign videos broadcast at the Minnesota GOP state convention contained an antisemitic sequence, and she has also faced claims of bigotry in the past.