One of Trump's most vocal defenders throughout his first and last term in office has been Mike Lindell, known to conservative media viewers as the CEO of MyPillow.
Lindell can often be seen hawking his products during commercial breaks on far-right media outlets like Newsmax and Fox News, but his support for Trump has elevated him to the status of a conservative influencer.
Lindell heavily promoted the botanical drug oleandrin as a promising cure for the virus that's killed nearly 300 thousand Americans, despite no evidence of it being a viable treatment.
Now, he's amplifying Trump's lies that widespread voter fraud tipped the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden, promoting the wildly false claim that Democrats and moderate Republicans coordinated with voting software companies to change millions of Trump votes to Biden votes.
These lies are searingly relevant in Georgia, which went blue this election for the first time since 1996. Trump falsely insists that he actually won the state but that Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, is "hiding" something and won't issue a signature audit—something he doesn't have the legal authority to do.
This disinformation has led to Trump supporters threatening violence against government and election officials in the state.
At a Trump rally in Georgia this past weekend, Lindell falsely claimed that so-called enablers of this nonexistent fraud would soon be in prison.
Watch below.
Here's Mike Lindell just now brazenly laying out Trump's last-ditch plan to steal the election pic.twitter.com/gfvzn8IPfc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 5, 2020
Lindell echoed Trump's calls for Kemp to call a special session of the Georgia legislature in order to replace Georgia's current slate of electors with new Trump-loyal electors. They do not have the legal authority to do this.
Lindell said:
"How do you not put people in prison? They will be going to prison."
The fantasy of incarceration Trump's supporters have for those who won't subvert election results once again generated mockery.
The greatest business minds in America are on Trump's side: "Give an order to have a, a, congress meeting, or whatever-whatever they do, and pull down Georgia." https://t.co/5ecZh7p8ei
— Jeff Sharlet (@JeffSharlet) December 6, 2020
This is amazing. You know...just overturn the elections in three states and Trump wins! So easy! https://t.co/uE2xu8o377
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) December 6, 2020
Mike should really stick to oddly lumpy pillows. https://t.co/BUp4lnhlXO
— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 6, 2020
I feel like we're not emphasizing enough that this man makes pillows for a living https://t.co/M34brMk93n
— Spencer L. (@redneptonic) December 6, 2020
Tears on My Pillow https://t.co/nPkvZ0V7hb
— D.J. Short (@djshort) December 6, 2020
Seriously, I'd rather sleep on a dirty gym sock stuffed with rancid walnuts than this person's pillow. https://t.co/rb087AbvoJ
— Betty Cracker 🐊 (@bettycrackerfl) December 6, 2020
Some thought Lindell's appearance was reminiscent of a WWF promo—screaming spectators and fake conflicts included.
Feels like I'm watching an early 90's WWF promo. https://t.co/CRK9ihJPCA
— 🎄Saleh-Dorsey for Christmas🎅🏻 (@RMB1324) December 5, 2020
👇🏼The My Pillow Guy, for real??! I felt like I was watching an old episode of #WWF 😂 #WeirdoTrump https://t.co/ThHDNm8PaM
— LauraNotLisa (@PantsLiss) December 6, 2020
It's like he's doing a wrestling promo. It even looks like a wrestling event. https://t.co/gEuBeKDKvf
— J Evans Pritchard PhD (@pritchard_phd) December 6, 2020
On Monday, a federal Judge in Georgis dismissed pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell's case to de-certify Georgia's election results.
@jessicachastain/Instagram
