HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Anderson Cooper rips MyPillow CEO for ‘snake oil salesman’ Covid-19 cure, gets slammed for giving him airtime

Cooper called Lindell a “snake oil salesman” for peddling an unproven and potentially dangerous supplement as a “miracle” cure for the coronavirus

On Tuesday, August 18, on CNN’s ‘Celebrity Death Match: COVID-Edition’ anchor Anderson Cooper slammed MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell. Cooper called Lindell a “snake oil salesman” for peddling an unproven and potentially dangerous supplement as a “miracle” cure for the coronavirus.

On Monday, August 17, Lindell, an avowed supporter of President Donald Trump, said that he had participated in a July meeting at the White House regarding the use of oleandrin as a potential therapeutic for coronavirus. Oleandrin, CNN reported, is an extract from the plant Nerium oleander, noting that the raw oleander plant is highly toxic, and consumption of it can be fatal.

Lindell told CNN, “He was enthusiastic, as he is on everything that's going to help people,” adding that Trump wanted the Food and Drug Administration to "do its course."

The interview with Cooper, however, went off the rails, as the irate anchor told Lindell at one point, “You really are like a snake-oil salesman… You could be in the Old West standing on a box telling people to drink your amazing elixir that there’s no proof...”

He was interrupted by Lindell who then invoked Divine authority, shouting, “I give the glory to God -- I do what Jesus has me do! I give the glory to God! Why would I do this? Ask yourself, why would I ruin my reputation if I didn’t believe in this product?”

At which point, Cooper countered with, “Money,” before adding, “You don’t have a good reputation.” Lindell, following that, claimed that the therapeutic had been tested. However, he failed to provide details on whichever study he was referring to. “One hundred percent, you’re just misconstrued, because the media is trying to take away this amazing cure that works for everyone,” he said. 

Oleandrin has reportedly not been approved by the FDA. Lindell, on Monday, claimed that he had done his own due diligence and research, citing studies from the University of Texas and Fort Detrick in Maryland, calling his findings "so exciting."

But CNN reported that no studies involving oleandrin and Covid-19 have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and there's no public information to show oleandrin has been tested in Covid-19 patients. One preprint study, which hasn't been peer-reviewed or published, found the extract had antiviral effects against Covid-19 in cells in the lab. 

The shouting match between Cooper and Lindell found much love on social media with many on Twitter dubbing it a “pillow fight”. As one Twitter user noted, "Anderson Cooper brought a gun to a pillow fight!"

Another Twitter user wrote, “Anderson Cooper is on CNN right making the MyPillow guy look like a guy who shouldn't even be allowed to sell pillows.”

Another said, “I nominate Anderson Cooper for Secretary of the Department of Shade for this gralloching of the My Pillow guy. He called him a snake oil salesman lolol.”

But not everyone was all praises about Cooper, especially while being critical of Lindell at the same time. One person noted, “Mike Lindell shouldn’t be going on national television discussing a poison like oleandrin as a cure for COVID-19. Sure it’s great that Anderson Cooper can destroy him on TV. But CNN shouldn’t be giving airtime to these dangerous people in the first place. It’s very irresponsible.”

Another made a similar observation: “This is way more of an indictment of Anderson Cooper than it is of the MyPillow guy. Cooper acknowledges the guy is a dangerous conspiracy theorist, and then proceeds to give him 20-minutes of prime time attention just so he can act like a ‘tough’ journalist.”