MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost $7 million making COVID-19 masks but says he only cares about 'bringing the election down'
- Last year, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said his company would make and donate COVID-19 masks.
- Lindell told Insider he spent $7 million on the effort and has millions of masks left over.
- "I could care less about these masks," Lindell said. "My biggest priority is to bring this election down."
In a speech from the Rose Garden last year alongside then-President Donald Trump, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said his company would produce and distribute face masks to do their part in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the conservative figure is saying the operation has cost him millions of dollars and that they have millions of masks they can't get rid of. Lindell told The Daily Beast this week that the mask-making effort cost him and his company a combined total of $7 million.
"I can't give them away," Lindell told The Daily Beast. "I tried to. No one wants the things anymore."
An aide to Lindell told the outlet they had 2 million masks they can't get rid of, while Lindell suggested they "ought to just burn" them.
Lindell confirmed to Insider that he spent millions on the mask operation and had millions left, but said The Daily Beast's characterization of it as a failure was a "lie" and that it was a charitable endeavor to "help our country."
In addition to making masks, he said he was also purchasing N-95 masks and donating or selling them at a loss. He estimated the company donated millions of masks, including to the Arizona Navajo Nation, the state of Minnesota, nursing homes, and police departments.
He said he only tried selling the masks briefly last year after he was no longer able to give them away. They sold about 4,000 masks, according to Lindell.
Lindell, a loyal Trump supporter, announced in March 2020 that MyPillow was converting 75% of its production, which is based in the US, to making face masks.
He told FOX9 at the time that he did not plan to sell the masks, but instead, they would be donated to Minnesota and other hospitals around the US. He also said the company was making 100% cotton masks due to the availability of the material.
But Lindell told Insider that despite his intent to donate masks to hospitals, the cotton masks did not meet the standards for healthcare workers set by the Food and Drug Administration during the pandemic.
Lindell also said his mask operation was eventually stifled by a saturated market, affecting both the N-95s he outsourced and the cotton masks he produced.
He said he hopes to eventually donate the remaining masks to places that need them, though he emphasized they are not currently his focus.
"I could care less about these masks," Lindell told Insider. "My biggest priority is to bring this election down and all the investigation I've been doing with the election fraud."
Lindell has remained one of Trump's staunchest defenders and has continued to push unsubstantiated claims about the election. He told Insider he believed Trump would be reinstated as president by the fall, though this theory has no constitutional basis.
Lindell told Insider's Jacob Shamsian in February that he lost $65 million in revenue because of retailers boycotting his business over his election fraud claims. He is also being sued for $1.3 billion in a defamation case brought on by Dominion Voting Systems, an election technology company wrapped up in his fraud claims.