MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell condemned Fox News and Newsmax during his rally in Wisconsin on Saturday as he railed against the mainstream media and Big Tech censorship.
The conspiracy theorist and close ally of former President Donald Trump hosted a MAGA Frank Free Speech rally in New Richmond, Wisconsin, to push baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and criticize the alleged attack on free speech by mainstream media outlets, as well as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms.
"We're fighting for our First Amendment rights of free speech," Lindell told the crowd. "But I want to say something. Shame on you, Fox... This is disgusting what they've done to our country."
"Where are you, where are you Fox?" he continued. "They're already being sued ... who cares if you're gonna get sued twice by Smartmatic and Dominion. This isn't just about the machines. I have people talk about Jesus and they're getting taken off YouTube."
Lindell's hostility toward Fox News dates back to last December, when he first accused the network of conspiring with Democrats to overthrow Trump at a "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington D.C. "Why do you think Fox declared Arizona with only 14 percent of the vote in? They already knew what they did! They were in on it," he told a pro-Trump crowd at the time.
Relations between Lindell and Fox News continued to sour throughout the first half of 2021. In April, the pillow businessman called out the network for not reporting on his $1.6 billion lawsuit against Dominion Voting Systems.
"Isn't it big news that MyPillow sued a company called Dominion that is paid for by tax dollars?" Lindell asked during a livestream for the launch of his new social media site, Frank. "Why don't you report? Fox, report, have me on."
Lindell announced the lawsuit against Dominion after Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against MyPillow and Lindell alleging that he defamed the company by publicly claiming that their voting machines fraudulently flipped voters to favor President Joe Biden.
In February, Newsmax anchor Bob Sellers attempted to cut off Lindell in an interview about "cancel culture" after he repeated election falsehoods on air. "Mike, you're talking about machines. We, at Newsmax, have not been able to verify any of those kinds of allegations," Sellers said. The conservative anchor, who appeared annoyed as Lindell continued to talk over him, eventually walked off set during their conversation.
At the time, Newsmax was facing a Dominion lawsuit over false claims of election fraud. Two months later, the network issued a retraction of the false claims and an apology in an on-air segment.
Lindell renewed his feud with Newsmax on Saturday by criticizing the outlet for refusing to back his election conspiracy theories and capitulating to Dominion's lawsuit.
"Look at Newsmax, the cowards there, what they did," he said. "So we get sued and then we back out and we say, 'there's no evidence,' and then we'll back out of our lawsuit. This is disgusting what's going on."
In a statement to Newsweek following Lindell's remarks, a Newsmax spokesperson said: "Newsmax has reported aggressively on President Trump and his campaign's allegations but any conclusions we make must be backed up by actual evidence of wrongdoing. Our job is to report the facts as we know them, and that will make some folks unhappy."
Newsweek reached out to Fox News representatives for comment.
06/12/2021 7:43 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Newsmax.
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