MyPillow guy permanently banned from Twitter over Trump election claims

Staunch Trump ally banned due to 'repeated violations’ of its civic integrity policy

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has been permanently banned from Twitter after he continued to perpetuate the baseless claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election.

Mr Lindell has been one of Mr Trump’s most public supporters over the last four years and has often parroted conspiracy theories spread by the president and his followers.

Twitter decided to ban Mr Lindell due to “repeated violations” of its civic integrity policy, a spokesperson said in a statement.  

It was not immediately clear which posts by Lindell on Twitter triggered the suspension of his account.

The civic integrity policy was implemented by the social media platform last September and is targeted at fighting disinformation.

Mr Lindell has continued to insist that the November 2020 presidential election was rigged even after President Joe Biden was inaugurated on 20 January.  

Ahead of the inauguration Mr Lindell tweeted then deleted calls for the former president to “impose martial law” in the seven battleground states that won the election for Joe Biden.

The CEO then caused controversy when a picture of his notes brought to a White House meeting with Mr Trump suggested implementing “martial law if necessary”.

In December he also suggested that the presidential election could be overturned via the electoral college by replacing electors in certain swing states.

Following his continued support of the president’s baseless claims, the CEO said that major retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s have said that they would boycott My Pillow’s products.

“Just got off the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond. They’re dropping My Pillow. Just got off the phone not five minutes ago. Kohl’s, all these different places,” Mr Lindell said in an interview with Right Side Broadcasting Network.

“These [companies], they’re scared. They were good partners. In fact, I told them, ‘You guys come back anytime you want,’” he added.

Amid the violent insurrection at the US Capitol by pro-Trump supporters 6 January Mr Lindell called the events of the day “very peaceful” in an interview with Newsmax.

“There was probably some undercover Antifa that dressed as Trump people and did some damage to windows and got in there,” he added.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said there is “no indication” of any Antifa involvement in the riots, The New York Times reported.

Mr Lindell, who was a major donor to the Trump campaign, is also facing potential litigation from Dominion Voting Systems for claiming that their voting machines played a role in alleged election fraud.

Mr Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is also facing a lawsuit from the company following months of the former mayor’s promotion of similar claims that the systems were rigged.

Following the storming of the US Capitol earlier this month, Twitter has banned over 70,000 accounts for sharing misinformation.

Mr Trump, had his account permanently suspended following the riot and following the release of a video in which he told rioters to go home but also called them “very special.”

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the platform said.

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."

Mr Trump still does not have access to a Twitter account and has opened an “Office of the Former President” through which to conduct his public affairs.