The Pillow Guy’s Media Network Is a Vast Wasteland of Nothingness

By Jacob Gries, July 31, 2022

Mike Lindell is going to save the country, and he needs you – needs us – to do it. Frank Speech, Lindell’s conservative media network, is seemingly the biggest part of his elaborate plan. But the pillow guy’s official foray into the world of conservative media, like its many predecessors and imitators, is more propaganda arm than news publisher/curator. Its hours and hours of live shows and clipped videos all serve to reinforce the fantastical narrative that the 2020 election was rigged due to deliberately faulty voting machines. (Dominion Voting Systems is one of Lindell’s favorite targets.)

Lindell’s shtick may have predated Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House, but he now falls into a long line of right-wing Trump devotees and copycats. Which is to say he’s a tireless, energetic self-marketer who will happily – and quite loudly, I should add – bloviate about whatever’s on his mind. Both share the same belief in the power of repetitive, volume-defying messaging, in their ability to convince anyone of anything. At times, this can be strangely charismatic and impressive; even if you don’t agree with a shred of what they’re saying, the always-on-ness is still a sight to behold.

No Twitter? No Problem!

Trump and Lindell, who works as CEO of My Pillow, Inc., in his day job, were both kicked off Twitter back in January 2021 for spouting, regurgitating, and spreading baseless claims and theories about the 2020 election, the same theories that Lindell now disseminates on Frank Speech. He created this new media website-slash-network a few months later, in April 2021, to shield himself from further de-platforming, and in the year-plus since then, it’s grown into an all-day-every-day home for conservative programming.

On LindellTV or LindellTV2, the site’s two live feeds, you’ll find a who’s who of conservative personalities, from the recognizable (Steve Bannon, Lindell and Emerald Robinson) to the obscure (Pete Santilli, Tamara Scott, Stew Peters, and Aynaz Anni Cyrus). Like most other cable news networks, Frank Speech’s programming schedule is as rigid as can be: the same people pop on the screen at the same time day after day. The main TV feed pumps out content all day long, from 7 a.m. to midnight, while the secondary channel broadcasts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. And if you actually want to watch all of this content, rather than just read about it, all you have to do is type ‘Frank Speech’ into your computer’s search bar and follow the top link, which will take you where you want to go.

Now, a relevant question: What if you’re a second-screen person who needs their computer during the day to do more important, work-related things? Fret not! You can still watch Frank Speech through their app, which you can download on whichever streaming device controls your life at this very moment, be it Roku, AppleTV, Chromecast, or Nvidia Shield. (If you have a Samsung or LG smart TV, you can download the app through your TV’s app store.)

“The Voice of Free Speech”

That is what Lindell claims Frank Speech is and will be – a beacon and home for those who have been excised from traditional conservative media circles because of their out-there takes and opinions.

But Lindell, a devout evangelical, simply will not accept certain words and statements on his platform; according to the Community Standards page, using the lord’s name in vain is a big no-no. Relatedly, everyone who finds their way to Frank Speech or its accompanying social platform, Frank Social, is expected to follow the “Golden Rule found in the Bible,” which, sure, we all know what that is. Hypocrisy is one thing, but asking internet users and commenters – typically a very congenial, rational group – to act like they’re in church is flat out unrealistic.

Lots of Mike … and Coffee, Too!

Even though Frank Speech’s fearless leader has carved out his own programming bloc – The Lindell Report, which goes live every day for two separate one-hour increments, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. EST – he still hopscotches from show to show to show, often appearing against a backdrop of manufactured, home-office Americana: a cartoonishly large painting of a lion, a folded-up red, white, and blue handkerchief, and a statuette of an eagle. And seemingly every single time he pops up on the screen, Lindell is talking about “the lies” about “the machines,” as if he’s the hero of his own futuristic, dystopian book about a robot uprising. We know, of course, that many, if not all, of the claims Lindell makes about election integrity and voting machines are, in fact, highly suspect. (A former employee of Dominion Voting Systems is even suing Lindell for defamation.)

When he’s not off on his quest to restore “order” to our country’s voting systems, Lindell is actively using his new venture to prop up his old one. Sooner or later, a MyPillow chyron pops up on seemingly every show, offering viewers substantial discounts (66% off!!) on everything from pillows to bedding to pajamas. The pillow magnate even has a new product to promote: MyCoffee, which, as I’m sure you might’ve guessed, is “the best coffee on the market.”

Is this just harmless, shameless, slightly comedic promotion? Yes, absolutely. But it also might be what Lindell has to do to keep his new project up and running. In an interview with Insider back in March of this year, he admitted to spending more than a million dollars a month on Frank Speech and Frank Social. (Lindell did not respond to TheRighting’s interview request.)

The “Proof”

On the site’s top navigation bar, there’s a Fix2020First tab, which houses all the supposed proof that the 2020 election was fraudulent and stolen. The links take you to some interesting, not-at-all-reputable places, including The Ferocious Conservative Activist Bulletin, WhatFinger News, American Defense News, and even someone named Sharon Nelson’s online post, which appears in the comment section of an unnamed website. (He’s really turning over every stone.)

This section contains even more documents, most of which come from going-nowhere court cases filed against either Dominion Voting Systems, Smartmatic, or anyone who publicly spoke out in support of the two voting-software providers. You can even have a little fun and become a whistleblower yourself! If you spot any electronic election fraud on your morning commute, or on your weekend stroll around the neighborhood, go straight to Frank Speech. It’s your civic duty, after all, because that one small act could help save this great nation of ours.  And Mike needs all the help he can get.

Jacob Gries is a writer living in Manhattan who’s written pieces on sports, politics, technology, art, and other things in between. Find him on Twitter at @imjacobgries .

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