The MyPillow guy has been in the news so much in the last few weeks that you may have finally learned his name. It’s Mike Lindell, and he, the company’s founder and spokesperson, has been in the news for a reason beyond bedwear: He’s been the loudest and most stubborn of believers that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Sticking up for the former president has cost him a lot, from lost business to huge lawsuits to banned Twitter accounts. And now it looks like even Newsmax, the proudly pro-Trump news network, has even had enough of him.
Newsmax invites Mike Lindell, who advocated for a coup and spews dangerous conspiracy theories, on air. It didn't go well. pic.twitter.com/6xzSgXlHua
— Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) February 2, 2021
On Tuesday, Lindell appeared on Newsmax to ostensibly address his latest hiccup: The official MyPillow Twitter account was permanently suspended, reportedly because Lindell — whose own personal account was banned after repeated voter fraud allegations — took it over and said some bannable stuff. But Lindell didn’t want to talk about Twitter. He wanted to spew baseless nonsense about voting machines.
He told the anchors that his personal account was suspended “because we have all the election fraud with these Dominion machines —we have 100% proof.” But Lindell didn’t get very far. Newsmax is among the pro-Trump media outlets that have been threatened with massive lawsuits by Dominion Voting Systems, who’ve not taken kindly to proven lies about their efficacy. And very quickly the volume on Lindell’s microphone was lowered as the anchors made it abundantly clear that they did not agree with their guest’s blathering.
“Newmax accepts the results as legal and final,” the one anchor said, seeming to read a legal disclaimer at hand should someone like Lindell start saying stuff that will get them in trouble. All the while, an animated Lindell could be seen, but barely heard, ranting and raving.
When the hosts finally got him to talk about “cancel culture,” Lindell quickly nosedived again. He appeared to say he wanted the Twitter suspensions to be “permanent,” then went right back to talking about all the evidence about “election problems.” Eventually one of the anchors simply walked off.
People couldn’t believe what they saw.
When you’re too nutty for Newsmax, the only place literally left is “random street corner with a sandwich board” https://t.co/QwSRTmdAea
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) February 2, 2021
This is the power of substantial lawsuits. It is proving to be one of the most effective weapons against disinformation.
Before the election, Newsmax let these conspiracies run wild.
Now? Not so much. https://t.co/qvTXnyyiiJ
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) February 2, 2021
Newsmax joins the cancel culture. Ya hate to see it https://t.co/hS6QWSrXOO
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 2, 2021
Try to get through this without cracking up. Just try. I don't think you can do it. Newsmax invites Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, to talk about cancel culture, but he has other ideas. pic.twitter.com/M0vhYyOher via @JasonSCampbell
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) February 2, 2021
I need a fourth window here that’s just Newsmax’s general counsel watching the others. https://t.co/dtxyU84wYL
— Matt Ford (@fordm) February 2, 2021
Newsmax just canceled Mike Lindell, and it was everything I thought it would be.
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) February 2, 2021
Anyway, hope sticking up for the famously trustworthy Donald J. Trump has been worth it!