The MyPillow CEO is one of the most prolific purveyors of conspiracy theories about President Biden’s win
Fox News isn’t alone in having to pay millions of dollars for lying about the 2020 election. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was ordered on Wednesday to pay $5 million to Robert Zeidman, a 63-year-old Trump voter who debunked Lindell’s claim that China interfered in the election based on data Lindell provided.
It’s a strange story. It started in August 2021 when Lindell claimed during a “cyber symposium” in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that he had data proving China interfered in the election. He announced he would pay $5 million to anyone who prove him wrong, dubbing the contest, naturally, the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge.”
Zeidman signed up for the challenge, which required only that contestants prove that the data Lindell provided didn’t have anything to do with the 2020 election. Zeidman, a computer forensics specialist, did just that, finding the data was total nonsense. Lindell refused to pay up, so Zeidman took him to arbitration. The arbitration panel ruled that Zeidman did indeed prove that the data in question “unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data,” ordering Lindell to pay within 30 days.
“The truth is finally out there,” Zeidman told The Washington Post in a statement, adding that he is “really happy” with the decision.
Lindell doesn’t seem very keen to abide by the decision. “This will end up in court,” he told CNN, adding that the United States needs to do away with electronic voting machines.
Lindell is no stranger to court. The conspiracy theorizing pillow magnate — who has repeatedly claimed he can prove the 2020 election was stolen without ever actually doing so — was sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims that the company helped rig the election in President Biden’s favor. Lindell made the claims through several outlets, including Fox News, which on Monday settled their own defamation suit brought by Dominion to the tune of $787.5 million.
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