Inside Trump's Relationship With Mike Lindell, The MyPillow Guy

Many of America's businesses may have, at least publicly, been backing away from Donald Trump, but there is at least one man who continues to stand by the outgoing president: Mike Lindell, who many of us might refer to as the "MyPillow Guy." The day before the Jan. 6 riot, Lindell's direct marketing site was giving its customers a "Fight for Trump" discount code, and he continued to offer his support for Trump in the hours after the riot, even going on Newsmax to describe the rally and its violent end as "very peaceful" (via The New York Times).

Trump has also been seen holding talks with Lindell, with Lindell's notes captured and shared on social media, which seem to indicate that Trump needed to act "immediately" and use the Insurrection Act in order to save the Constitution (via The Washington Post). Of that meeting, CNN reporter Jim Acosta tweeted, "My Pillow guy Mike Lindell confirms he met with Trump for 5 min, says he offered what he described as evidence of election fraud. Lindell says Trump told him to hand material to WH aides. Lindell claimed the words 'martial law' do not appear in the documents despite photos."

The relationship between Mike Lindell and Donald Trump dates back to the days when President Trump was still Candidate Trump and Lindell was invited to Trump Tower in August 2016. Lindell has admitted that before his relationship with the outgoing president, he didn't know much about politics: "When I quit everything — January 16, 2009 — I had never voted, I didn't know anything about politics. I didn't know a liberal from a conservative." But the meeting changed all that.

"[I] learned a little bit about what each party was," he said of his research before he met with Trump, who wanted to know about his business and his U.S.-based manufacturing operations (via People). The meeting also gave Lindell the opportunity to introduce his product to the Trumps, who he said were curious about the pillows. "I overnighted him pillows from my Minnesota factory. I got a personal email from him saying he and his wife really liked MyPillow," Lindell recalled in January of 2017, following Trump's inauguration (via Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal).

Lindell's next opportunity to interact with the president came in the summer of 2017, when he was invited to a manufacturer's meeting at the White House as part of "Made in America Week," and he was seated next to Trump. "It was just surreal. Now, my friends all seen that on TV — me sitting next to the president — and they're going, 'Wow! This can only be God because there's no way this ex-crack head is sitting next to the president'," Lindell said.

Mike Lindell grabbed the president's ear when the coronavirus pandemic was kicking up into high gear in early 2020. He was one of the CEOs that had appeared at the White House to tell Trump what his company was doing to help fight the burgeoning pandemic (his American-based MyPillow factory committed to making up to 50,000 cotton masks a day).

On that day, Lindell said he was also invited to take a tour of the Oval Office, where they chatted for nearly half an hour. Lindell told People the two talked about business, and whether churches could stay open. Aside from producing masks, Lindell also proposed that the government make use of extracts from the highly toxic plant, oleandrin as a cure for COVID-19. While he described the president as having been "enthusiastic" about the idea, it was highly criticized by health care practitioners (via Business Insider).

To his credit, Lindell promised to stay true to Donald Trump, through thick and thin, telling People: "I'm very proud of what he's done. I will not back down ever — ever." That's exactly what he has done and, it appears, what he will continue to do.