Most people know Mike Lindell as the My Pillow Guy. Lindell patented open-cell poly-foam pillows and opened up shop while still addicted to crack. Since he went public about his addiction in 2015, Courts found Lindell’s claims of being a “sleep expert” and claims the product could ease symptoms of cerebral palsy, acid reflux, and menopause to be baseless. Courts also charged My Pillow with tax fraud. After supporting Trump in 2016, Lindell defended Trump’s accusations of voter fraud in 2020, even going so far as to produce, direct, and star in a documentary promoting the specious allegations.
No one on the panel had a good solution for situations like this. Schonder eloquently laid the burden on viewers, saying, “It’s a wild time, just in terms of propaganda. It’s an awesome time to think about media literacy.” For Schonder, that translates to “being a critical audience member when you sit down to watch something that was recommended to you.” Raeshem Nijhon concluded that viewers must learn to ask, “whose point of view is this, and where is it coming from?” when viewing all documentaries.
Despite Lindell’s “documentary” title, Absolute Proof, its distributors, the One America News Network, preceded Mike’s production with a lengthy disclaimer separating OANN from Lindell’s statements, reminding viewers not to interpret Lindell’s claims as facts. It’s particularly damning when you consider that OANN is a far-right cable news channel publicly supportive of Trump. Apparently, they were worried about their own journalistic credibility. OANN has been sued by two different electronic voting system companies for defamation because of Absolute Proof. Meanwhile, Lindell has since created his own conservative news media network, LindellTV, with a 24-hour “Frank Speech Live Stream.”
