Inside the wild world of My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell
By Ramishah Maruf, CNN Business
Mike Lindell doesn’t just sell pillows. He also sells false hope, CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter said on “Reliable Sources” Sunday.
The My Pillow CEO is an insider in Trump world, rewarded with White House access and endorsements by the former president. Now, Lindell has moved on to broadcasting.
On Lindell TV, the host frequently says former president Donald Trump is the real president and that the 2020 election will still be overturned. He even claims he’s heading to the Supreme Court with a case to bring Trump back into office.
“This stuff is the real Twilight Zone,” Stelter said. “And it’s been endorsed by the former president. So Lindell has power even though he’s often in a far-right Looney Tunes land.”
And not only is the show endorsed by Trump, but on Tuesday, Lindell says he’s airing a 40-minute interview with the former president.
“This is the Lindell Report, bringing you news combined with hope by offering practical and achievable action points to assist you in defending and preserving faith and freedom,” Lindell says in the intro to his show.
His far-right corner of the internet, which includes a 24-hour feed and his own version of YouTube, dubbed FrankSpeech.com, has even alienated Fox News.
“Fox is the worst media outlet in probably the history of the planet,” Lindell said on his show. “Why don’t you help save our country?”
Advertisements and promotion codes for My Pillow are frequent on the media platform.
Zachary Petrizzo, a media reporter at The Daily Beast, covers Lindell TV. He said far-right conspiracy sites such as the Gateway Pundit have a financial incentive to publish Lindell’s content because they get a portion of sales from My Pillow promo codes on their sites.
“I think it’s a grift too, but I think Lindell definitely believes in what he’s pushing without question,” Petrizzo said on Reliable Sources Sunday.
The false content has become an issue for traditional right-wing media.
“The Washington Examiner is keeping an arm’s length away from Lindell,” Petrizzo said.
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