Twitter bans My Pillow CEO who insisted Trump won the election

Twitter has banished My Pillow Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mike Lindell, the bedding company honcho who courted controversy after persistently tweeting Donald Trump was the real winner of the U.S. presidential race.

The company decided to ban Lindell permanently after he repeatedly violated its civic integrity policy, a spokesperson said. Twitter Inc. has invoked that policy previously to fight false claims about the vote, including the ban on Trump himself alongside more than 70,000 accounts dedicated to sharing QAnon-associated conspiracy theory content. The company representative didn't elaborate on the move.

Calls on social media to boycott My Pillow products intensified after Trump-loyalist Lindell continued to insist the election was rigged, even after the Capitol riots of this month that left several dead. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Kohl's Corp., HEB Grocery Co. and Wayfair Inc. are among those dropping its products, Lindell has said.

"I'm not backing down on these machines that stole our election," Lindell said in a recent interview with Business Insider, referring to claims about rigged voting machines. "I'm not changing my mind on anything like that ever. I'm not going to: 'Oh, please, don't boycott me. Please don't.' "

Courts repeatedly shot down Trump's legal efforts to overturn the election results, and no evidence of widespread fraud has materialized. That hasn't stopped the former president and his supporters from using the claims to galvanize support and underpin fundraising efforts.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s action echoes moves made by other retailers in recent years, which have dropped Trump-affiliated products amid growing controversy related to the president. The recent riot at the Capitol by Trump supporters has already prompted major retailers, including Walmart Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Best Buy Co., to halt political contributions to Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.