Anderson Cooper just exposed the coronavirus quackery of one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies

And because Trump loves people who love him, the president has been complimentary of Lindell as well. “Boy, are you selling these pillows,” Trump told Lindell at a White House event in March. (Lindell’s pillow, which is touted for his comfort, made him a multimillionaire.) Lindell also claimed Trump urged him to run for office.

But Trump did more than just congratulate Lindell. It allowed Lindell to attend a White House meeting in July on the potential therapeutic properties of something called oleandrin, an extract from the oleander plant.

And in an, uh, interesting coincidence, Lindell was added to the board of (and received a financial stake in) Phoenix Biotechnology, which produced the oleadrin, earlier this month.

This all brings me to Tuesday, when Lindell was interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. It was, by any objective measure, an absolute and utter disaster for Lindell – and Oleandrin.

Lindell began the interview by recounting how, shortly after asking the whole country to pray for a solution to the coronavirus pandemic, he was contacted – on Easter Sunday! – by the manufacturer of oleandrin. He immediately took the notion to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who is a true doctor, despite the fact that there had been no peer-reviewed studies on the effectiveness (or not) of the extract. Lindell told Cooper he felt the 1,000 people who took oleandrine in 2016 – long before Covid-19 existed – and who had no side effects was sufficient evidence.

Lindell: Well, the 1,000 people are over there. I don’t know if you can’t find it. But I am not a doctor. I just know that Ben Carson, who’s on the task force, he brought him to the president, going –

Cooper: OKAY. But stop, sir. Ben Carson has in the past been paid to promote supplements and got into trouble for it in 2015, so he has a track record on it. You tell people it cures Covid. You don’t have any studies to prove it. And you say 1000 people have been tested –

Lindell: You know what: I have my own study. When I took the – When I saw the 1,000 people test, that was for sure. That’s all I needed.

Cooper: Sir, OK, if you’ve seen this test, where is this test?

Lindell: I have been taking it since April. I have been taking it since April. I have 100 friends and family – this thing works. It is the miracle of all time.

Cooper: You said – Sir, you said you saw this test, where is it?

Lindell: The tests are over there. The thousand people – phase one, phase two.

Cooper: Where is the test? Show it to us.

Lindell: I don’t have the test.

Whoa boy. And it only got worse from there.

Lindell claimed that “the FDA has had it since April” and accused Cooper of misinterpreting it “because the media is trying to suppress this amazing remedy that works for everyone.”

(Note: The FDA has not approved oleandrin. The agency does not generally endorse dietary supplements, but says it is the company’s responsibility to make sure its products are safe and that claims are correct. The FDA has sued hundreds of products for making false claims about the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of Covid-19.)

Cooper responded to Lindell with this:

“Sir, just for our viewers, you have no medical training. You are not a scientist. A guy called you in April and told you he had this product. You are now a member of the board and you are going to make money from selling this product. product. … and you will profit from it. How do you sleep at night? “

Lindell continued, noting, “It works and I’m true to what I believe in. I have no monetary gain here.” (This last part is patently false.)

He suggested that Cooper “probably” sleeps on a MyPillow. (Cooper said no.)

And he insisted he had done “my due diligence and my studies with Covid and humans and not yet released.” (Uh, okay.)

These are the people Trump has elevated to positions of power and influence as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. People who do what it does – push unproven cures (hydroxychloroquine! Bleach injections! – with no idea of ​​the damage they do to those who follow them most ardently.

Kudos to Anderson for revealing just how “science” on claims like Lindell’s really is. Swallowing Lindell’s unwanted science isn’t just embarrassing. It could be dangerous.