President Trump hosts KQ's Tom Barnard, MyPillow's Mike Lindell at Mar-a-Lago
A pair of notable names from Minnesota had a moment with President Donald Trump over the weekend.
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and KQRS radio host Tom Barnard were both pictured with the president during a gathering at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday.
Lindell is a staunch supporter of President Trump, having appeared on stage at his rallies in Minnesota.
He was also a guest at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve, and recently he has been linked with a run for Minnesota governor on the Republican ticket against Gov. Tim Walz in 2022.
Barnard is the long-running host of the KQ92 Morning Show and also has his own daily podcast, The Tom Barnard Show.
He spoke about his meeting with the president on his Monday podcast, titled "My Dinner With Donald," in which he discussed Trump mistakenly stating in a tweet that the Kansas City Chiefs are from Kansas, not Missouri.
"Missouri, Kansas what's the difference? Up until the Vikings, Minnesota was a huge Green Bay Packers state so it's not a big deal," he said.
"I talked to him about a number of things it was quite the experience I'll tell you that.
"Turns out he listens to the show once in a while which I found fascinating, he knew who I was. It's been a long time since I've talked to Donald Trump. That guy knows everything, if he's going to be face-to-face with you he's going to know everything about you.
"Mike Lindell was also there, as I said on the air this morning, there were 11 of us and 10 of us were billionaires and one wasn't. Gee I wonder which one wasn't.
"It was quite the day, I learned a lot, had a nice time, the president put his arm around my shoulder ... it was weird, to grow up the way that I grew up dirt poor ... to end up having lunch with the president is really weird.
"I don't really want to hear about how America sucks. You grew up with absolutely nothing no education, no money, no privileges whatsoever and you end up having lunch one day with the President of the United States, that's a pretty damn good country if you ask me."
Known for his brash, larger-than-life personality and deep baritone that ensured he had a successful voiceover career, and helped build the KQ Morning Show into one of the highest rated in the country.
However he proved a polarizing figure over the past two decades after his talk show turned decidedly political following the 9/11 attacks, a move he told MinnPost that he regrets.
Barnard was inducted to the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017. We last covered him in 2018, when he went on an 8-minute onslaught against public radio stations in the Twin Cities, namely KFAI and Minnesota Public Radio.
Lindell meanwhile is best known for his Shakopee-based pillow business that has made him worth an estimated $300 million, building the business from scratch in 2004 after recovering from a crack addiction.
