Unbelievable.
CNN's Anderson Cooper spent 20 minutes of his television program in a yelling match with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Instead of interviewing his guest, Cooper decided to insult Mike Lindell, calling him a "snake oil salesman."
At one point, Cooper asked Lindell, "How do you sleep at night?"
So why were they fighting?
Well, Mike Lindell is helping the fight against COVID-19 by investing in therapuetic solutions and research.
Specifically, Lindell was added to the board of Phoenix Biotechnology.
Rather than asking Lindell about the research and development of potential vaccines and cures, Cooper turned the segement into a 20-minute marathon yelling match.
See the unbelievable footage for yourself below:
Here's how CNN chose to cover the interview.
Note that the clip they posted on Twitter is only 9 minutes (compared to the 20 minute segment that it actually was).
In the interview, Cooper accused Lindell of doing this for the money.
The insinuation is that Lindell doesn't actually care about helping people.
Cooper also insulted Lindell's reputation.
According to The Hill:
CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday slammed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ardent President Trump supporter, for pushing an unproven therapeutic treatment for coronavirus, sales of which could benefit him.
“You really are a snake oil salesman. I mean, you could be in the Old West standing on a box telling people to drink your amazing elixir that there's no proof [of],” Cooper told Lindell in an interview.
Lindell is pushing oleandrin as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19. Last week, he was added to the board of Phoenix Biotechnology, which makes oleandrin, receiving a financial stake in the company, CNN reported.
Lindell confirmed to CNN Monday that Trump participated in a July meeting at the White House regarding the use of oleandrin, an extract from the plant Nerium oleander, as a potential coronavirus treatment.
Lindell defended his pushing of the drug, claiming he’s given it to friends and family and it “saved their lives.”
“I do what Jesus has me do,” he told Cooper.
“You think Jesus wants you out here promoting remedies that ... [have] never been tested?” Cooper asked.
“Why would I do this? Ask yourself why would I ruin my reputation if I didn't believe in this product?” Lindell responded.
Cooper said he thinks Lindell is doing it for money, adding that he doesn’t think Lindell has a great reputation.
Lindell claimed that the therapeutic had been tested but when pressed failed to provide details on whichever study he was referring to, though he said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had the research since April.
“One hundred percent, you’re just misconstrued, because the media is trying to take away this amazing cure that works for everyone,” he said.
Instead of lobbing out unfounded allegations and insults, perhaps Anderson Cooper should spend his time actually interviewing his guests!
Instead of staying on topic, Cooper also appeared to make things personal.
He attacked MyPillow as well as Mike Lindell on personal terms.
According to Mediaite:
The interview quickly deteriorated after Cooper opened by asking Lindell if it’s “morally right” to push the unproven therapeutic he has financial ties to — a plant-based extract called Oleandrin — and questioned, “How do you sleep at night?!”
“How are you different than a snake oil salesman?!” asked Cooper later on. “You have no medical background. There’s no evidence of the substance. It hasn’t been tested in animals or humans.”
“I think my platform stands by itself. The platform that God gave me of integrity and trust,” declared Lindell. “I would not go all in on something to help people if it wasn’t true.”
“If it wasn’t true you wouldn’t do it?” Anderson questioned.
Lindell replied, “Absolutely I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t truthful, if I didn’t do my due diligence. Just like I did my due diligence when I met out president before he was president, the greatest president in the history of the United States.”
Cooper then raised the heat by pointing out Lindell’s previous MyPillow issues, commenting, “Let me ask you about due diligence because you run a company called MyPillow, you ran ads that claimed your pillow could help snoring and migraines and Fibromyalgia. Prosecutors in nine counties in California sued you and you settled for a million dollars and are not allowed to make scientific claims without any proof about your pillows.”
“Your rating from the Better Business Bureau in Minnesota was lowered to an ‘F’ for, among other, things misleading customers on a buy one get one offer,” Cooper continued. “That’s not a great track record for honesty, sir. You paid a million dollars.”
Lindell protested that he had to pay the million dollars, even though he stood by his claims, before Cooper said, “170,000 Americans have died. There are families out there that are desperate for any kind of remedy, any kind of cure, and you, sir, who have no medical background are pushing a product made by a plant, by the way, that is toxic and deadly.”
Lindell screamed back, “I have no monetary gain here… I want to help people,” as Cooper shouted, “That’s not true. You’re going to make money from this. You’re on the board of this company. You’ve taken a financial stake in this company.”
“They asked me last week to go on the board,” Lindell proclaimed, prompting Cooper to snide, “Yeah, so that you could go out and promote it because you’re willing to promote anything even if it doesn’t work.”
This is CNN.
The fact that Anderson Cooper began attacking MyPillow -- during a segment supposed to be about COVID -- truly suggests that this was a pre-planned attack on Mike Lindell.
Why talk about MyPillow when the discussion is supposed to be about the pandemic?!
The fake news has truly lost all credibility!
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