A key figure in Trump’s conspiracy coalition goes on trial

Whenever President Trump sees his ally Mike Lindell, Trump pours on the praise. A “patriot.” A “brave guy.” The “single greatest advertiser in history.” Right now, though, Lindell is something else: A defendant. The CEO of MyPillow, who built his business through incessant commercials and devotion to Trump, is on trial in Colorado over his tirades about the 2020 election. Opening statements happened Tuesday morning in a case brought by Eric Coomer, a former Dominion Voting Systems executive who sued Lindell for defamation in 2022. Coomer told CNN he was forced into hiding when bogus conspiracy theories about Dominion rigging the 2020 election against Trump led to a deluge of death threats. He later charged in the lawsuit that Lindell and MyPillow were “among the most prolific vectors” of the lies and said the rhetorical campaign had “devastating” real-world consequences. Dominion famously prevailed in a similar defamation lawsuit against Fox News in 2023 when Fox agreed to pay the company $787.5 million. Dominion has numerous other lawsuits still pending. Coomer also settled one of his other suits, this one against the far-right network One America News, in 2023. But Coomer’s case against Lindell has reached a jury, and he is expected to take the stand as soon as Tuesday afternoon. For plaintiffs like Coomer, one of the hopes is that legal victories could cause partisan talking heads to think twice before sowing doubt about future elections. ‘It’s OK to say it, Mike!’ Lindell, forever a showman, has repositioned himself as a free speech warrior amid widespread condemnation of his lies about the 2020 election. The pillow businessman recently claimed that “I’m in ruins” as a result of the numerous lawsuits stemming from his election-related claims. Both Dominion and another voting tech company, Smartmatic, are actively suing Lindell for defamation. Smartmatic alleges that Lindell “generated profits for his company by skillfully incorporating product promotions to his defamation campaign.” In March, a federal judge in Minnesota found that Lindell was in contempt of court because Lindell had failed to turn over required documents in the Smartmatic case. Lindell has attempted to turn the current Colorado trial into both a media circus and a fundraising opportunity. His obscure online video network, appropriately named LindellTV, has portrayed him as a martyr and promoted his pillows simultaneously. Host Emerald Robinson — a well-known conspiracy theorist like her boss — has called the case “the most important trial in the history of American elections.” Lindell’s running online commentary has doubled as a potential preview of his legal defense. “I didn’t know the guy,” Lindell said Monday, apparently referring to Coomer, claiming “he came after me” and “this is very, very organized.” Lindell also recast the defamation trial as a crusade for “secure elections” and repeated some of his discredited talking points about electronic voting machines. But what he says on the courthouse steps is one thing; what is said in court is another. Notably, Lindell’s attorneys said Tuesday that they won’t try to prove his election lies during the trial. “All Mike Lindell did was talk,” Lindell’s lawyer, Chris Kachouroff, reportedly told the jury. “Mike believed that he was telling the truth,” the lawyer added. “It doesn’t have to be true.” Lindell has received support from some high-profile MAGA media figures, including Steve Bannon, who interviewed Lindell on the “War Room” podcast Tuesday morning. Bannon gave Lindell time to “sell us a pillow and some sheets,” and the veteran salesman obliged, telling viewers that MyPillow sales revenues are underwriting his defense. Lindell’s number one supporter remains the president. When both men spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Trump lamented the “FBI thugs” who seized Lindell’s phone during an investigation in 2022. “I want to thank you on behalf of everybody, Mike, you put up with a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “He never changed his mind. He said that election of 2020 was rigged and he’s more of a believer today than he was even four years ago. But now it’s OK to say it, Mike! Now it’s fine.” The ‘conspiracy coalition’ thrives Lindell is a key member of Trump’s conspiracy coalition — a group of MAGA media personalities and their legions of followers who embrace and promote various politically charged theories that bear little if any connection to reality. A wild new example emerged last weekend: Trump’s amplification of a Truth Social post imagining that former president Joe Biden was actually a robot clone when he was in office between 2021 and 2024. On CNN’s “NewsNight,” anchor Abby Phillip pointed out that “for two months, all the attention’s been on the mental acuity of the previous president,” meaning Biden. “And while the scrutiny is justified, what about the current president? After all, he’s pushing a batshit conspiracy theory that Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with a clone robot.” The Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol reacted by saying, “Trump doesn’t believe it,” but he knows many of his supporters “love conspiracy theories,” and “the conspiracists are a big part of the Trump administration.” In other words, Trump’s repost was appealing to that conspiracy coalition — a group that is both entertained and motivated by his theories. While Trump-promoting outlets like Fox News laughed off the Trump repost, some media critics said it should be taken seriously. It is evidence of “Trump’s disordered mental state,” Stephen Robinson wrote for Public Notice on Tuesday morning. Avery Lotz wrote for Axios that Trump mixes “wild conspiracies with market-moving policies” in his feed on Truth Social. Lotz concluded, “With no fact-checks or consequences for falsehoods, Trump can be, as he’s shared multiple posts saying, ‘right about everything.’”