'This is hilarious': TV host walks off set in wild interview with Trump ally
It was supposed to be a segment about “cancel culture” but it was a controversial Trump ally who effectively got cancelled while on air.
Businessman and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell appeared on American right-wind cable TV network Newsmax to talk about being banned from Twitter for spreading lies about the US election and encouraging violence among Trump supporters.
His company promises “comfortable” pillows, but the experience for viewers watching the this interview was anything but.
Liddell has positioned himself as a surrogate for former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overthrow the presidential election. He was appearing on a network that has sought to steal away viewers from Fox News by promoting more extreme and pro-Trump ideas – but even he proved too much for the right-wing hosts.
Asked about Twitter canceling his account, he immediately launched into a tirade pushing debunked conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines used in certain states for the election.
Newsmax and Fox News have previously been pushing the baseless conspiracy but have had to recant online after the company threatened to sue.
“Well, first mine was taken down because we have all the election problem with these Dominion machines, we have 100 percent proof and then I, when they took it down...” he began.
Newsmax invites Mike Lindell, who advocated for a coup and spews dangerous conspiracy theories, on air. It didn't go well. pic.twitter.com/6xzSgXlHua
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) February 2, 2021
He was interrupted by Newsmax host Bob Sellers, who appeared to be reading from a prepared statement disavowing Lindell’s claims.
“Mike? Mike? Mike, thank you very much. Mike, Mike, you’re talking about machines that we at Newsmax have not been able to verify any of those kinds of allegations,” he said.
“We just want to let people know that there’s nothing substantive that we’ve seen ... Newsmax accepts the results as legal and final. The courts have also supported that view.”
Dominion has mounted an aggressive legal defense against the bogus claims that its machines were rigged to favor President Biden, including filing a US$1.3 billion defamation suit against Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
This is hilarious. The Newsmax guy walks off because he doesn’t want to get sued by Dominion. https://t.co/ehGbfzTPkM
— Ben Hunt (@EpsilonTheory) February 3, 2021
Faced with threats of litigation, the right-wing networks have backflipped on their conspiracies but Lindell – who is flirting with a run for the Governor of Minnesota – shows no sign of relenting.
For the next two minutes, Lindell and Sellers attempted to shout each other down. Lindell pushed on with his claims, saying, “You have just suppressed me!” as the host continued to speak over him.
When it appeared fruitless talking to the Trump-supporting CEO, the TV anchor simply left.
“Can I ask our producers, can we get out of here please? I don’t want to have to keep going over this,” he said.
A few seconds later, he stood up and walked off the set, leaving an empty chair behind.
Since November, Lindell has passionately promoted the baseless claim that Trump actually defeated Biden and would whip up followers, including Q-Anon followers, on social media. He now joins Trump in banned from Twitter.
with Yahoo News US
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