JOIN US MAY 20-21 FOR RESTORE CONFERENCE

Mary
DeMuth

Scot
McKnight

Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 1.50.18 PM

Naghmeh
Panahi

Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

MyPillow Owner Pulls Ads on Salem Radio Because Network “Canceled My Voice”

By Sarah Einselen
Mike Lindell MyPillow
MyPillow owner Mike Lindell said Saturday he’s canceling advertising with Salem Radio because the Christian network refuses to discuss an elections-related complaint he’s taking to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Video screen grab / YouTube)

MyPillow owner Mike Lindell said Saturday he’s canceling advertising with Salem Radio because the Christian network refuses to discuss an elections-related complaint he’s taking to the Supreme Court.

“With Salem, nobody gets to sell MyPillow products going forward,” he said during a 96-hour-long livestream over the Thanksgiving weekend. “You canceled my voice. And I’m not going to stand for it.”

Lindell—a staunch supporter of Donald Trump who’s well known for his claims of election fraud—had promised to bring a complaint to the Supreme Court by Thanksgiving. Last Tuesday, he posted a copy of an incomplete complaint online, which lacked plaintiffs or attorneys.

According to the Washington Examiner, Lindell blamed the Republican National Committee for missing his Thanksgiving deadline. Lindell claimed the committee pressured multiple attorneys general to not sign the complaint.

Salem Media Group, one of the largest Christian media platforms in the country, runs 101 stations with Christian and conservative programming and distributes similar programming to another 3,100 affiliate stations, an investor presentation indicates. National advertising makes up almost 9% of Salem’s broadcast revenue and infomercials make up another half a percent, according to its fiscal year 2020 financial disclosures.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Even If He Doesn’t: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense” by Kristen LaValley. To donate, click here.

The Roys Report reached out to Lindell through his company and to a Salem executive for comment, but didn’t hear back. A Salem spokesman told The Daily Beast that Lindell “has the right if he wants to do that” and that the network didn’t have any rules keeping its hosts from discussing Lindell’s proposed court case.

Today — just a day after those comments — Lindell was being advertised as a guest on the Eric Metaxas Show, one of Salem’s nationally syndicated talk shows.

Mike Lindell Eric Metaxas
Broadcast on the Salem Radio Network, The Eric Metaxas Show listed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell as a show guest on November 30, 2021. (Video screen grab)

Lindell has pulled MyPillow advertising before over disagreements with broadcasters. He yanked ads from Fox News after the network refused to run an ad promoting Lindell’s election fraud claims. MyPillow ads have since resumed airing on the TV network.

His claims include allegations that the 2020 presidential election was plagued with widespread fraud that compromised the outcome. But the Trump administration’s elections chiefs flatly contradicted such claims, and numerous judges, including ones appointed by Trump, have thrown out lawsuits attempting to overturn specific jurisdictions’ election results.

Napp Nazworth, who has founded a nonprofit aimed at fighting “disinformation,” said many Salem hosts are guilty of “helping spread the thoroughly debunked claim that Trump won the 2020 presidential election.” He added that Lindell “has been one of the largest funders and purveyors of this disinformation campaign.”

Nazworth said that “a Lindell ban at Salem would be appropriate, but that appears to be just another false statement among many false statements from Lindell.”

Lindell also is facing legal blowback to his claims.

Dominion Voting Systems, which provides voting systems to jurisdictions in 28 states, accuses Lindell and his company of defamation in a civil lawsuit. Dominion wants $1.3 billion in damages.

Lindell has filed countersuits on his behalf and his company’s.

Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating some post-election attempts to breach elections systems in Colorado and Ohio. Those attempts may be linked to Lindell. The attempted hacks were discovered when information taken from an Ohio county’s computer system was displayed during a cyber-symposium Lindell hosted this past summer.

The information was from a different system than the one that runs elections in that county, officials said, and no sensitive data was compromised.

Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.

SHARE THIS:

GET EMAIL UPDATES!

Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox!

Don’t worry we won’t spam you.

More to explore
discussion

6 Responses

  1. Sigh. This is almost sad to watch. It’s more than just a business downfall – it’s spiritual, mental, and emotional. I pray Mr Lindell gets help.

  2. I fully support Lindell’s right to speak his mind and I do agree that attempts to explore possible shenanigans in 2020 weren’t given their fair hearing but I have to conclude he is somewhat of a chalatan. He proudly advertises all his products as Made in America but some of them are in fact made in Bangladesh. I have a very low tolerance for dishonesty, so I’m not really willing to hear much that he has to say.

  3. I also think Lindell is using the word “canceled” rather strongly, as if it’s a buzzword to get people riled up for his cause. No one is stopping Mr Lindell from speaking. And Salem has its own brand, reputation, and terms of service to uphold and protect. If you go against those terms, it is their right to take action, whether that is sending a warning or outright discontinuing the relationship. You cannot “bully” another person or company into doing what you want out of some false claim of being canceled. It can actually be argued that Mr Lindell is “canceling” Salem by pulling his ads for not giving him what he wants. It’s like throwing a tantrum.
    (Also, you can replace the word “Salem” with just about any social media platform, too. What’s the lesson? Read your terms of service!)

  4. It is quite obvious that Mike Lindell needs help. Even Donald Trump doesn’t believe some of the crazy conspiracy theories he has embraced. It is so sad to see. I hope someone close to him will intervene for the sake of his mental health.

Leave a Reply

The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Toward that end, the site requires that people register before they begin commenting. This means no anonymous comments will be allowed. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted.
 
MOST RECENT Articles
MOST popular articles
en_USEnglish

Donate

Hi. We see this is the third article this month you’ve found worth reading. Great! Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church?

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “The Atlas Factor: Shifting Leadership Onto the Shoulders of Jesus” by Lance Ford.