Tag: MIke Lindell

Washington Post Photographer Catches My Pillow CEO’s Notes On Martial Law

Michael Lindell, an avid Trump-backer, headed to the White House armed with notes on the “Insurrection Act” and action to “save the Constitution.”

A Washington Post photographer managed to capture a clear, partial image of notes that My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell — otherwise known as the “My Pillow guy” — carried into the West Wing on Friday. They included the chilling words “Insurrection Act” and “martial law.”

Observers have feared that outgoing President Donald Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act to declare martial law and mobilize the military in a coup to override the democratic presidential election.

Based on the notes, Lindell, a multi-millionaire and avid Trump supporter who is also the TV pitchman of My Pillow USA, appeared to be about to discuss that very tactic with the White House. Trump was impeached for a second time on Wednesday, charged with “incitement of insurrection.” Continue reading.

Mike Lindell threatens to sue Anderson Cooper over brutal CNN interview

A little while back, Minnesota pillow-slinger, Trump cheerleader, and white guy blues aficionado Mike Lindell went on CNN to discuss oleandrin, a supplement he and a company called Phoenix Biotechnology are pushing as a cure for COVID-19.

Oleandrin is derived from oleander, a very pretty but highly toxic flowering shrub. It has been observed in some studies to have interesting effects on heart rate, which might, with time and careful, peer-reviewed study, prove to be useful in the treatment of some heart conditions.

However, the narrow sliver of potential between ineffectual amounts of oleandrin and a lethal dose is making experts a little wary about properly vetting its usage; it is, in fact, the very compound that makes oleander so lethal. Continue reading.

Oleandrin is a deadly plant poison, not a COVID-19 cure

With COVID-19 cases and deaths rising in the U.S. and globally, identifying new therapies to prevent and combat the virus is a top priority. Natural products from plants are an attractive option in the search for a cure. Approximately 374,000 plant species are on Earth; humans have used more than 28,000 of them as a form of medicine. 

But not all that is natural is necessarily safe. Scientists have not yet explored most of these species for their chemical makeup or therapeutic potential. 

As a medical ethnobotanist, I study the traditional uses of medicinal plants to discover promising leads for new drugs to fight infectious diseases. It’s vital to consider both the potential benefits and risks of plant extracts in such research. I am concerned by recent reports that a chemical found in the oleander plant is being touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19. Continue reading.

Trump trades in hydroxychloroquine advocacy for flower oil after meeting with MyPillow guy: report

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President Donald Trump has come up with another “cure” to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Axios, Trump thinks that the oil from a flower could help save people.

“Trump has expressed enthusiasm for the Food and Drug Administration to approve an extract from the oleander plant as a dietary supplement to cure COVID-19, despite lack of proof that it works,” said Axios in the Sunday report.

According to the report, Trump got the idea from an Oval Office meeting with the My Pillow guy and Dr. Ben Carson, a brain surgeon who runs the Department of Housing and Urban Development. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell owns a financial stake in the company developing the flower oil. Continue reading.

Trump’s MyPillow buddy getting $75,000 to make masks he can’t produce

Remember how on March 30 Donald Trump held his daily coronavirus press conference in the White House Rose Garden and MyPillow founder Michael Lindell spoke? It was strange and disturbing and unhelpful. Three days later, the number of Americans dying every day from the novel coronavirus went from around 500 per day to over 1,000 per day. About two weeks later, well over 2,000 Americans are dying every day from COVID-19. Why the hell was the MyPillow guy praying on television during a goddamn coronavirus press conference?

The day after the press conference/infomercial for MyPillow, Lindell announced that his company would begin making medical masks. Unfortunately, Mr. Pillow could only produce cloth masks, and so he needed to contract out, and his promises of 50,000 masks by the end of the week came to a halt. But never you fear, Politico is reporting that the Department of Veterans Affairs is ponying up $75,000 to help Lindell along. And the delay? Well, “the order has not been filled yet because the company has yet to find a subcontractor to actually make the masks, since the VA wants KN95 and disposable masks and MyPillow only makes cloth masks.”

So, let’s be clear: instead of the government paying a company that can and does produce the required masks, they are going to pay a guy who cannot produce the masks and will now act as a go-between to contract a company that will produce the masks. No matter how you cut that, this is inefficient, wasteful, and so silly it’s hard to not shake with anger while typing. Continue reading.