Trump-loving pillow baron has a surprising take on Fox News boycotts -- he claims they're bad for you not him
Don't expect Mike Lindell, the owner of My Pillow, to back away from his support of embattled Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
The ultra-conservative Ingraham lost half of her advertisers in the wake of her insulting of Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg, even though her ratings are up and her advertising rates are down.
Lindell is as loyal as ever. In an email interview with Raw Story, he claims that the boycott will only hurt consumers.
“When advertisers boycott a show, it drives up advertising prices on other shows and outlets," he wrote. "The bottom line is boycotts are bad for advertisers and therefore, consumers.”
Though he's closely aligned with Fox News and Trump, Lindell buys advertisements on CNN and MSNBC nationally, and deals with affiliates from every network locally.
But he's supported Trump from the beginning of the 2016 campaign, and has visited the president at Mar-A-Lago.
In response to Raw Story's questions, Lindell claimed that his advertising buys are non-partisan.
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“I carefully consider all of my advertising decisions and make them based on what is best for MyPillow, my employees and my customers," he wrote when asked whether he's ever considered dropping his ads from Fox News—and again when asked whether he worries about offending liberal consumers.
Like Trump, Lindell has made a lot of money by telling his story on television. A former drug addict, he got clean and started the pillow company, which brags of being made in America from American materials. He's been targeted in lawsuits which allege he falsely claimed to be a sleep expert and didn't disclose that he funded the "National Sleep Foundation" that endorsed his product.
"I'm here to give all my credibility to Mr. Donald Trump," he once said. "He'll be the most amazing president this country has ever had."
Despite such statements, Lindell wrote that he doesn't think people buy his pillows because of his support for rightwing politicians.
“In my experience, people buy pillows because they want to sleep better," he wrote. "With MyPillow, they are getting quality sleep.”
But supporters on the MyPillow Facebook page say the opposite.
On April 4—when Laura Ingraham was on "vacation" after losing a number of advertisers—My Pillow ran a 50 percent off promotion.
"I'm going to order some of your pillows for my personal use. I've seen your ads before but never motivated to order," replied Facebook user Marc Weissman. "I am going to now because I support companies that support America."
"I want to thank you for standing by #Laura! I will be ordering pillows for all members of my family," wrote Facebook user Janet Rizzo. "We need more stand up for America people like you! Well done for sticking to your values. We will win this war to MAGA! I salute your company for helping make that happen!"
"Thanks for not giving in to liberal/progressive attacks based on your ads on Fox News program," wrote Herschel Rector. "As a result, I plan to buy two of your pillows. Your ads on conservative or liberal programs are fine and your support of American made products is commendable."
This is not the first time Lindell has seemingly stopped just short of fully embracing Trumpism. Trump has told people that he uses My Pillow products now. Asked by Fox News if he planned to use Trump's endorsement of the pillows, Lindell demurred saying that he work Trump into his ads only if it was "good for the president."
Then again, maybe Lindell the businessman doesn't want his product too closely associated with Trump given the president's poor sleep habits and many early morning Twitter rampages.
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