The founder of My Pillow drew a large crowd Sunday evening at his book signing event hosted by The Villages MAGA Club.
The VMC is a political action committee whose goal is to support former President Donald Trump and his agenda, candidates and policies to aid in his bid for presidency in the 2024 election. The group has invited a variety of speakers to that effect, including controversial congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green and Donald Trump, Jr.
Their latest invitee was entrepreneur turned political activist Michael “Mike” Lindell. As the inventor of My Pillow, Lindell patented a pillow filled with pieces of interlocking shredded foam in 2004. Since then, he has become a fervent supporter of Trump and the author of “What Are the Odds?”, a memoir recounting Lindell’s personal struggles with addiction and his path to becoming a CEO.
About 250 people braved the rainy conditions of the evening to meet Lindell at the Lake Miona Recreation Center. He posed with several members of the audience for photos while stopping to sign copies of his book. After a brief introduction, including a pledge led by 99-year-old veteran Irving Locker, Lindell took to the stage to discuss secure elections.
Throughout his speech, the Minnesota native advocated for the use of paper ballots counted by hand over the use of machines and computers. He alleged that corruption in both the Democratic and Republican parties led to Trump’s loss in the 2020 election using machines, indicating a bigger issue with the validity of future elections if they continued to be used. He detailed his experiences since 2019 with trying to prove this alleged fraud, calling it an “evil battle” between himself fighting for secure elections without machines and those that argued otherwise.
“This is a battle of biblical proportions,” said Lindell. “We are at an apex in history for this.”
Lindell went on to state that using the Lindell Offense Fund, a legal offense fund used to fight voting machines, and FrankSocial, an online app used to report election malpractice, he planned to give voters the ability to monitor elections if machines continued to be used. What he dubbed the “Wireless Monitoring Device” will be able to determine if voting machines are connected to the internet in real time for every county in the country. He asked those in the crowd for help with that endeavor by donating to his website, Lindellplan.com.
“That’s the only thing that can stop this plan from going through,” said Lindell.
Before ending his presentation, Lindell shared where his fight against voter machines currently stood. He stated that about 270 counties across the nation committed to using paper ballots counted by hand in the 2024 election, and a case concerning the use of voter machines is to be presented to the Supreme Court on March 15. As a final word of advice, Lindell encouraged onlookers to vote in person on election day rather than voting early or through the mail.
“We have a plan, it’s well under way,” said Lindell. “We have everything.”
Many in the audience were eager to hear from Lindell on the subject, including Betty and Phil Mack of the Village of Chitty Chatty. While the couple only recently became aware of the VMC, they have watched Lindell for some time and support of both Lindell and Trump. They are no stranger to political advocacy, however, as Betty created political dummies for both parties from 1996 through 2016.
Phil, a retired military veteran, shared his opinion on the importance of being knowledgeable when it comes to voting.
“A lot of people don’t get out and vote, so they have no opinion on the process,” said Phil. “They need to get out and vote.”
The sold-out event marks another success for club leaders Thomas and Valerie Jamieson. As the election comes closer, the pair continues to see increased interest in membership and events. They plan to continue campaigning on behalf of Trump by continuing to host speakers, setting up a recurring booth at the Marion Market for new voters and working with the state for committees and other such needs.
“We’ll continue until Trump is back in office,” said Thomas of their efforts.