Stores drop MyPillow amid riot fallout
NEW YORK — The founder of MyPillow, a vocal and in the past few weeks very visible supporter of President Donald Trump, says a backlash against the company has begun after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol this month.
Mike Lindell, the company CEO and also the face of the brand, said major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and Texas-based HE-B have dropped his products recently.
Both companies confirmed the decision to cease carrying the brand Tuesday, but cited flagging sales rather than Lindell’s actions or his support for Trump.
“There has been decreased customer demand for MyPillow,“Kohl’s said in an email. “We will sell our current inventory and not buy additional/future inventory in the brand.”
Lindell said MyPillow products also have been pulled from online furniture store Wayfair.
H-E-B and Wayfair didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Lindell has continued to push bogus claims of election fraud since Trump’s loss to President-elect Joe Biden in November.
That has led to extensive pressure on social media for outlets carrying MyPillow, based in Chaska, Minn., southwest of Minneapolis, to drop the brand.
Other companies have been caught in the crossfire as once-loyal customers are repulsed by the support of some executives for Trump.
Many households purged their pantries of Goya products after the CEO of the company appeared next to Trump at the White House and praised him effusively.
Retailers during the Trump administration have wrestled with an extremely divisive political environment, risking the loss of business from one side or the other.
Among the first brands to get a public pink slip was Ivanka Trump clothing, which Nordstrom stopped carrying in early 2017.
The company, like those dropping MyPillow, cited steadily declining sales but it was boycotted nonetheless by Trump supporters. President Trump complained on Twitter that Nordstrom treated his daughter “so unfairly.”
Other retailers dropped the brand, however, and it closed for business a year later.
Speaking with Right Side Broadcasting Network, which is best known for its livestream coverage of Trump rallies on its YouTube channel, Lindell said this week that Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s were good companies but were feeling pressured by social media campaigns.
“I told them, you guys come back any time you want,” he said in a video released on YouTube. “It’s not their fault that they’re scared.”
Aside from the retail pressure, Lindell also is facing potential litigation from Dominion Voting Systems for his accusations that their voting machines played a role in election fraud.
The Washington Post reported that Dominion sent Lindell a letter earlier this month stating that it would pursue legal action against him.
The company already has filed a defamation lawsuit against lawyer Sidney Powell for the same reasons after the attorney represented Trump in a series of unsuccessful lawsuits contesting the election outcome.