The unusual journey of Mike Lindell and the significance of his future
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell holding one of his patented MyPillows. Photo courtesy of MyPillow
MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell has been at the forefront of controversy over the last few months, especially in recent weeks.
The self-made entrepreneur recently had his personal Twitter account, as well as MyPillow’s corporate Twitter account, permanently suspended.
Lindell was vehemently making claims of election fraud from his personal Twitter account, resulting in a suspension on Tuesday, Jan. 26. He then posted similar claims on the MyPillow corporate account, leading Twitter to quickly suspend the account on Monday, Feb. 1.
Lindell appeared on Newsmax on Feb. 3 to talk about the suspensions, and turmoil ensued.
Newsmax anchor Bobby Sellers repeatedly attempted to shift the conversation back to the topic of the Twitter suspensions, but Lindell continuously hammered in his claims of election fraud. Sellers’ frustration built until the interview ended with him walking out of frame.
The magnitude of Lindell and Newsmax’s turbulent interview is amplified given the context.
Lindell has been a prominent Republican voice over the past four-and-a-half years, but on Feb. 3, he found himself at odds with perhaps the most notably conservative-leaning news organization.
Given all of these events, Lindell finds himself at the center of the American spotlight, albeit not for the reasons that he would undoubtedly prefer; however, the one-of-a-kind journey that has led him to this place and what this level of notoriety could mean for his near future and the state of Minnesota are the constructs of much more complete and important story.
Lindell’s road to being a multi-millionaire, Christian-oriented Republican figure did not stem from where one might think.
In Lindell’s book, “What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO,” he elaborates on exactly what the title may suggest.
An image portraying the results of Lindell’s recovery from drug addiction. Image by Mike Lindell
A Minnesota-native born in Chaska, Lindell attended college at the University of Minnesota in 1979. Before the year’s end, Lindell dropped out of college and began to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors.
Lindell’s unique and ambitious attempts to find financial prosperity began modestly when he started a carpet cleaning business — but eventually ranged to more bizarre ventures such as professional card-counting and pig farming.
In an interview with CNBC, Lindell shared that his days as a card-counter ended when casino security “literally threw [him] through the front door.”
In the same exclusive interview, Lindell talked about his days as an addict and the early days of his company.
Amidst these entrepreneurial struggles in the 80s is when Lindell began his long and devastating battle with strong addictions to cocaine, crack and alcohol. Although hampered by addiction, Lindell continued his efforts to achieve success. After a long stint in bartending, he ended up purchasing a bar.
His addiction continued through the 90s and into the mid-2000s when Lindell claimed very famously that MyPillow came to him in a dream from God. He immediately pursued this dream as he set out to create the world’s greatest pillow with his son, Darren Lindell.
Once Lindell believed he had achieved the ultimate feat of pillow ingenuity, he began the process of trying to sell the pillow. He began by pitching the pillow to Bed Bath and Beyond and getting asked to leave. Instead, he started the sale of his pillows at a mall kiosk. This led to his eventual inclusion into a Minneapolis home show, and from there, MyPillows began selling like hotcakes.
Despite achieving success, Lindell’s struggle with addiction continued an additional five years. After several unruly bouts of cocaine abuse, Lindell claimed to have reached sobriety through a single prayer in 2009, ending his battle with drug addiction that spanned over two decades.
With this newfound freedom from the enthralls of substance abuse, Lindell turned his sights to expanding MyPillow via infomercials, writing and releasing his autobiography, providing help to those facing addiction through his foundation — the Lindell Foundation — and spreading various messages pertaining to Christianity and faith.
After living these endeavors for years, Lindell began his next chapter into what has seemingly been his focus over the past four-and-a-half years: politics.
Lindell pictured next to former President Donald Trump. Photo courtesy of Mike Lindell
First receiving national recognition through his aforementioned infomercials, Lindell reached new notorious heights as he took to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s side in August of 2016.
He started as a campaign manager for Trump’s Minnesota campaign and remained an advisor to the president for the remainder of his term.
The last bit of Trump’s tenure in support of Trump consisted of Lindell avidly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and ended with Trump leaving office and Lindell’s subsequent Twitter bans.
Despite the events of this past month, Lindell’s political endeavors and business challenges are not over.
In January, Lindell told the Star Tribune that there was a “90-95%” chance he would run for governor of Minnesota.
Former Duluth Mayor Don Ness. Photo by Jennifer Simonson via MPR
Former Mayor of Duluth Don Ness spoke with The Bark about Lindell’s possible candidacy starting with his chances in the Republican primary.
“Because of his name recognition and his over-the-top support from Donald Trump, my guess is there would be a base of support in the Republican party,” Ness said.
Ness went on to describe the current geopolitical climate of the Minnesota GOP and the role it would play in Lindell’s candidacy.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty there. There’s going to be a battle for the soul of the Republican Party,” Ness said. Ness then talked about the dichotomy the Minnesota Republican Party faces in choosing a more moderate Republican, or a candidate of the farther right.
“He may be the strongest Trump-related brand candidate in the state of Minnesota, but is that enough to win the primary,” Ness asked.
If Lindell were to win the Republican nomination — which as Ness described would be a challenge of its own — he would then face a difficult election against Democratic incumbent Gov. Tim Walz. In the event of a Lindell vs. Walz gubernatorial race, Ness shared his belief that Lindell would have a “0.0001% chance” of victory against Walz and stated his reasoning.
Along with Lindell’s lack of political experience, Ness said “the reality is that Minnesota is a center-left state … getting someone that far to the right who has bought into the QANON conspiracies is a recipe for losing the election by a wide margin.”
Ness also stated his uncertainty about whether or not Lindell is serious about running for governor, or whether or not him voicing potential candidacy is a way to “keep his name in the news and talk about his company and his positions.”
The Bark also interviewed Tiffani Skroch, president of Bulldog Republicans, to hear her thoughts on Lindell as a candidate.
Skroch cited Lindell’s avid support of Trump as a possible foundation of supporters in his favor.
“As a candidate, I think there are a lot of people pulling for him just because he was a really big Trump ally,” Skroch said.
Skroch then went on to describe the steps she believes Lindell must take to garner the support he would need to win the election.
“I think he really needs to find his own platform and his own voice and work on that to pull in the rest of Minnesota,” Skroch said.
Regardless of whether or not he decides to throw his hat in the ring for governor or the results of the election if he does, Lindell and MyPillow will be dealing with a sizable obstacle for the foreseeable future, as a new challenger enters the ring.
David Hogg, a 20 year-old gun-control activist, has announced that he will be starting his own pillow company called Good Pillow in competition with Lindell’s MyPillow.
In his interview with The Bark, Ness also shared his thoughts on this developing situation.
David Hogg pictured at the 9th Annual Peace Week Town Hall. Photo by Gary Gershoff via Getty Images
Ness laid out the competition of Hogg’s company versus Lindell’s as a political divide, with Good Pillow attracting more liberal consumers and MyPillow attracting conservatives due to the voiced positions of their respective owners.
“David Hogg’s company is not going to take a customer from Mike Lindell,” Ness said. “Lindell’s customers are there because they are conservative and agree with his views.”
Ness did not say that this move by Hogg was a political one, but stated generally “I don’t think there’s any question that David Hogg has political aspirations,” and that Hogg “will be a candidate for something.”
As the multiple layers of this story develop in the near future, so will their implications on the social and political climate of Minnesota.
Mike Lindell did not respond to a request for comment.