Talk about a pillow fight.
The MyPillow guy — who has a legal name but let’s be real you know him as the MyPillow guy — got clobbered in an interview-turned-argument with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
The MyPillow CEO (fine, his name is Michael Lindell) is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump. In recent days he’s been pushing an unproven plant extract called Oleander as the “cure” for coronavirus despite the fact that it could be dangerous for people to ingest. It might shock you, you know, or not, to learn that Lindell has a financial stake in the company that manufacturers the extract.
For some reason Lindell agreed to appear on CNN with known fact-user Anderson Cooper. Not surprisingly, Cooper absolutely grilled him in an extremely long TV interview that devolved into more of a fight. MyPillow guy kept trying to wriggle away but the skilled journalist refused to let things slide. In just one four-minute selection of the interview, Cooper accomplished a lot:
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He repeatedly challenged Lindell to provide even a shred of evidence that tests he claims exist actually exist. Lindell dodges and is unable to produce evidence.
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He live fact-checked the claims, rattling off details of the only public study, which wasn’t at all what the MyPillow CEO claimed.
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He told Lindell, “You have no medical background, you’re not a scientist, a guy called you in April saying that he had this product, you are now on the board and are going to make money from the sale of this product. The reason he reached out to you is because you have the ear of the president.”
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He asked him, “How do you sleep at night?” (Presumably on a MyPillow.)
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He asked Lindell, “How are you different than a snake-oil salesman?”
And, again, that’s all in about four minutes of a much longer interview.
—@andersoncooper relentlessly grills MyPillow CEO for evidence that the plant extract he’s pushing as a miracle cure for coronavirus works.
“Where is the test?”
“The tests are out there.”
“Where is the test? Show it to us.”
“I don’t have the test.” pic.twitter.com/iSmKnonqQ4
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 18, 2020
Throughout the course of their interaction, Lindell would try to defend himself by saying his reputation was on the line for this miracle cure. Cooper wasn’t having it, telling the MyPillow guy that his reputation wasn’t great, considering his business was handed an F by the Better Business Bureau.
Anderson Cooper: “You don’t have a great reputation. You’ve settled for a million dollars in California. You have an ‘F’ from the Better Business Bureau.”
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell: “Because they destroyed me when I went all in for this great president.”
These Trump supporters. https://t.co/ML6Q2u2fR0
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 18, 2020
Folks online were rightly impressed with Cooper’s relentless interviewing.
Mike Lindell, My Pillow CEO, on the COVID miracle cure he’s pushing on Trump: “Why would I ruin my reputation if I didn’t believe in this product?”@andersoncooper: “You don’t have a good reputation.”
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) August 18, 2020
Anderson Cooper is on CNN right making the MyPillow guy look like a guy who shouldn’t even be allowed to sell pillows.
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) August 18, 2020
Anderson Cooper has been beating up the my pillow guy for 30 minutes. I’m not kidding. I’ve never seen such a long segment. There’s blood all over the place. It is epic.
— Jason Overstreet (@JasonOverstreet) August 18, 2020
Lindell never gave up pushing his miracle cure and said folks like the BBB were out to get him because he supports Trump. Cooper was fed up.
“For a man who professes faith, for you to lie like this is really extraordinary to me,” Cooper said.