CNN anchor Anderson Cooper compared Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, to a “snake oil salesman” and asked him to provide evidence that a drug Lindell has touted as a therapeutic for the coronavirus is effective.
“How do you sleep at night?” Cooper asked Lindell Tuesday during an interview on CNN.
Lindell, a vocal supporter of President Trump, appeared on the network to promote oleandrin, a drug made from a chemical that is produced by the toxic plant oleander.
“This thing works. It’s the miracle of all time,” Lindell said.
Cooper pressed Lindell to explain what evidence he had to suggest the drug is effective in treating the coronavirus.
“You have no medical background. You’re not a scientist,” Cooper said. “A guy called you in April, said he had this product. You are now on the board and going to make money from the sale of this product. The reason he reached out to you is because you have the ear of the president, so he gets a meeting with the president, and you stand to make money from this.”
Lindell responded by accusing Cooper of trying to downplay any possible treatment or cure for the virus for political reasons, a theory alluded to by Trump and some of his supporters since the pandemic began.
“You’re just misconstrued because the media is trying to take away this amazing cure that works for everybody,” he said.
There have been no public, peer-reviewed studies on the effectiveness of oleandrin in humans. One study, which was done using a test tube and was not peer-reviewed, claims the drug works as a possible therapeutic.
Lindell, who has a financial stake in the company that makes the drug, helped secure a White House meeting between Trump and company leadership, during which the drug was pitched, according to multiple reports.
Lindell told Cooper that Dr. Ben Carson, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, also attended the Oval Office meeting and told him the drug was the “real deal.”
“You are now on the board and going to make money,” Cooper said. “How are you different than a snake oil salesman?”
Trump was also asked about oleandrin on Monday.
“We’ll look at it. We’ll look it,” Trump said. “We’re looking at a lot of different things.”
Trump has promoted other unproven drugs as possible cures for the coronavirus since early spring. In May, he announced he was taking hydroxychloroquine, a controversial antimalarial drug that some health experts have said is not effective.
“All I can tell you is, so far, I seem to be OK,” Trump said. “I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy … What do you have to lose?”
Some doctors have said hydroxychloroquine has worked in cases of critically ill coronavirus patients.
In July, a study from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit found that treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19 without heart-related side effects.
