A Newsmax segment featuring MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell quickly devolved into chaos Tuesday and resulted in host Bob Sellers walking off the set while the interview was still going on.
Lindell was brought on to discuss the censorship of conservatives on social media. The MyPillow Twitter account was suspended Monday after Lindell, who was suspended about a week earlier, appeared to post from it. Twitter rules state that the social media company can “also permanently suspend any other account we believe the same account holder or entity may be operating in violation of our earlier suspension.”
Newsmax host Heather Childers began the interview by asking Lindell why he was permanently suspended. The MyPillow CEO immediately dove into a speech about election fraud and began making claims about Dominion Voting Systems that have been refuted by many. (RELATED: REPORT: Dominion Voting Systems Threatens MyPillow CEO With ‘Imminent’ Lawsuit)
Sellers quickly tried to interrupt, noting that Newsmax has “not been able to verify any of those kinds of allegations.”
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Newsmax was one of several media outlets forced to walk back its coverage regarding voter inaccuracies after the 2020 election.
The network issued a note across all of its shows in December to “clarify” its coverage of Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems after Smartmatic sent legal notices alleging a “disinformation campaign.” More recently, Dominion reportedly sent a letter to Lindell threatening a lawsuit over his accusations of voter fraud involving the company.
“We just want to let people know that there’s nothing substantive that we’ve seen, and let me read you something,” Sellers said as Lindell continued to talk.
The Newsmax host continued on to read a written statement regarding the election results and Newsmax’s position on those results.
“While there were some clear evidence of some cases of vote fraud and election irregularities, the election results in every state were certified and Newsmax accepts the results as legal and final. The courts have also supported that view,” Sellers read before telling Lindell that the show just wanted to discuss “cancelling culture” with him. “We don’t want to re-litigate the allegations that you’re making, Mike.”
Sellers then tried to divert the subject back to censorship and asked Lindell if he believes the ban “should be temporary.” Lindell, however, continued his speech throughout before abruptly stopping to ask Sellers: “What?”
“Could you make an argument that this could be a temporary banning rather than permanent?” Sellers repeated.
Lindell used the question to launch right back into allegations of mass voter fraud and promptly claimed that he will be “revealing all of the evidence on Friday” regarding fraud “with these machines.”
At that point, Sellers became visibly agitated and asked his producers if the co-hosts could “get out of here, please.” He continued on to repeat his comments about Newsmax being unable to verify the claims Lindell was spewing, at which point Childers intervened try and calm the situation down.
“Everybody hold on a second. Mike, Mike, hold on one second,” she said as Sellers got up and left the screen mid-segment.
Childers eventually closed the interview with Lindell and said that “a lot of folks” also “feel that they are being censored.” She thanked Lindell for coming on the show, and Sellers eventually returned to the chair to continue co-hosting.