‘Crazy like a fox’: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell hit with another lawsuit from voting company
Lindell saw ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to promote election conspiracy theories knowing he would be embraced by millions of unhappy Trump voters, lawsuit claims
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell “intentionally stoked the fires of xenophobia” by spreading bogus claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, voting machine company Smartmatic has claimed in a new lawsuit.
Mr Lindell used the attention gained from his farcical crusade to have Joe Biden’s election victory overturned for the “noble purpose of selling his pillows”, Smartmatic’s lawyers argued in a suit filed in a US District court in Minnesota this week.
“Crazy like a fox. Mike Lindell knows exactly what he is doing, and it is dangerous,” Smartmatic said in the filing.
“He knows the election was not rigged, fixed, or stolen. He knows voting machines did not switch votes from former President Trump to now President Biden,” it added.
Mike Lindell hires reporter fired by Newsmax for saying Covid vaccine has satanic marker
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he has evidence to put 300 million in jail for election fraud
Pro-Trump conspiracist Mike Lindell says ‘millions’ are watching his Thanksgiving TV special – but only a few dozen seem to be
Mr Lindell saw a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to promote election conspiracy theories knowing that he would be embraced by millions of unhappy Trump voters, the lawsuit said.
Among his false claims were that Smartmatic’s election technology, hardware, and software “were developed for the sole purpose of stealing foreign elections by switching votes”.
“Once a fixture on late night infomercials embracing his pillows, in early 2021, Mr Lindell’s infomercials turned to spreading disinformation about the 2020 US election,” the suit said, adding his message was “as dangerous as it was factually inaccurate”.
Smartmatic, which also named MyPillow as a defendant in the suit, is seeking unspecified damages.
In an interview with Insider, Mr Lindell said the lawsuit was “hilarious” because he had lost more than $80m (about £59m) after being dropped by retailers and shopping channels.
“They’re guilty. They’ve attacked us and were part of the biggest crime in history against our country. And they’re going to all go to prison,” Mr Lindell said.
Earlier this month Mr Lindell was ridiculed after he claimed he had enough evidence to “put everyone in prison for life, 300 and some million people”.
He is also being sued by Dominion Voting Machines for $1bn over his false claims that Mr Trump won the election.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments