Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: ALLISON BAILEY / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP
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7:20 p.m., February 26, 2024
Mike Lindell, longtime supporter of Donald Trump, was ordered to pay $5 million to a computer engineer. He had promised to pay this sum to anyone who managed to prove that his conspiracy theory about the 2020 presidential election was false before being taken at their word.
His own trap finally closed on him. Mike Lindell, CEO of a pillow manufacturing company in the United States and admirer of Donald Trump, was ordered to pay $5 million to a computer engineer who managed to complete a challenge the millionaire gave him -even launched.
The one that some Americans nickname “Mister Pillow” is a fervent supporter of the conspiracy theories of the former American president. In particular those relating to an alleged rigging of the election which brought Joe Biden to the White House in January 2020. Donald Trump is also accused of having encouraged his supporters to prepare the assault on the capitol, which occurred the day after the victory of the former vice-president of Barack Obama. He will soon be tried in Washington.
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For his part, Mike Lindell claims that China directly intervened in the election to favor Joe Biden to the detriment of the New York billionaire. And claims to have proof of what he says. Sure of his fact, “Mister Pillow” made an offer and launched the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge”. “I only have one word, 5 million dollars. Prove me that I’m wrong and the 5 million are yours”, we hear him declare on American television, in an extract taken up by TF1.
Only problem: Robert Zeidman, a computer engineer, took the millionaire at his word. In a 15-page report, he ensures that the encrypted data put forward by Mike Lindell did not, in fact, contain any information on the election in question. Caught at his own game, “Mister Pillow” initially refused to pay the amount owed before American justice got involved. A Minneapolis judge has in fact confirmed a previous decision according to which Mike Lindell must indeed pay the 5 million dollars under the rules of the competition which he himself had established. The interested party has 30 days to make the payment.
A sentence which does not really suit Mike Lindell. His pillow business is experiencing significant financial difficulties, notably due to a payment dispute with Fox News which led the channel to stop broadcasting advertisements for his company “MyPillow”. The businessman also faces defamation lawsuits filed in the District of Columbia and Minnesota.