Trump-supporting My Pillow CEO says God gave him platform to promote unproven coronavirus treatment

'This thing works. It’s the miracle of all time,' Mike Lindell claims about oleandrin

Danielle Zoellner
New York
Wednesday 19 August 2020 22:17 BST
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MyPillow CEO pushes unfounded therapeutic drug as coronavirus treatment

The Donald Trump-supporting CEO of My Pillow has said God has given him his platform, as he pushes an unproven coronavirus treatment that the president expressed interest in.

Mike Lindell appeared on CNN with host Anderson Cooper on Tuesday to discuss oleandrin, an extract from the oleander plant, as a potential therapeutic for Covid-19.

The therapeutic has circulated in reports after Mr Lindell helped Andrew Whitney of Phoenix Biotechnology, which makes oleandrin, get a meeting in the Oval Office in July to pitch it to the president, according to reports from CNN, The Washington Post, and Axios. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was also in attendance.

“This thing works. It’s the miracle of all time,” Mr Lindell told CNN, despite being unable to give specifics about how and where the drug was studied.

“You’re just misconstrued because the media is trying to take away this amazing cure that works for everybody,” he added.

The CEO, who now has a financial stake in Phoenix Biotechnology, said he first learned about the drug after a friend brought it to him in April, calling it the “answer to the virus”.

But Cooper pointed out that Mr Lindell has no scientific background or experience in therapeutics. Yet he is pushing for a drug that has no public or peer-reviewed studies to back up its effects against the coronavirus.

One study claims the drug can help prevent and treat Covid-19, but the laboratory study was not peer-reviewed.

“A guy called you in April, said he had this product,” Cooper said. “You are now on the board and going to make money from the sale of this product. The reason he reached out to you is because you have the ear of the president, so he gets a meeting with the president, and you stand to make money from this.”

“How do you sleep at night?” he asked.

The hits kept coming from the CNN host after he was unable to get answers from Mr Lindell about what proof was out there the drug could work.

“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],” the CNN host said.

The CEO defended the drug, though, claiming friends and family members have used it and it has “saved many lives”.

“I do what Jesus has me do,” he said during the interview.

“You think Jesus wants you out here promoting remedies that ... 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?” Mr Lindell responded.

CNN faced a backlash for giving Mr LIndell a platform to promote the drug, but the CEO claimed he was given the limelight in recent months for a reason.

“I think my platform speaks for itself, the platform that God gave me,” he told Mr Cooper.

The president was asked by reporters on Monday if the administration would look into the potential effects oleandrin might have against the coronavirus. Research has previously suggested the therapeutic could be useful as a treatment for various cancers, such as colon, pancreatic, and prostate.

“We’ll look at it,” Mr Trump said about the drug.

“We’re looking at a lot of different things. I will say the FDA has been great. They are very close. We’re very close to a vaccine. Very close to a therapeutic. I have heard that name mentioned, we’ll find out,” he added.

Oleandrin has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat Covid-19.

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