The conservative media network One American News (OAN) aired MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s election fraud “documentary” Friday with a 90-second disclaimer that has garnered a lot of attention online.
Prior to release, Lindell predicted that “the end of time” will be among us like his two-hour movie, Absolute proof, fails to convince Americans that former President Donald Trump lost Joe Biden’s election in November due to voter fraud.
After the project fell on Friday, OAN broadcast the film with a striking disclaimer.
“Mr. Lindell is the sole author and executive producer of this program and is solely and exclusively responsible for its content,” it said. “This program is not the product of OAN’s reporting.”
“The statements and claims made in this program are presented as opinions at this time only and are not intended to be construed or interpreted by the viewer as established facts.”
According to MarketWatch, the disclaimer caused “Absolute Proof” to become a trend on Twitter Friday, with OAN’s preface attracting more online buzz than the movie itself.
Drew Angerer / Getty
Twitter permanently banned the MyPillow account Monday after Lindell tried to use it to circumvent his personal ban from the social media platform. “Jack Dorsey is trying to cancel me (Mike Lindell)!” the MyPillow account tweeted last Sunday.
Dominion Voting Systems has sent evidence custody letters to Lindell, OAN and others for making unverified allegations of election fraud. Thomas Clare, an attorney for Dominion, called OAN’s disclaimer “textbook of factual malice” and insisted that it “certainly does not release them from liability.”
“On the contrary, we specifically warned them in writing that they would broadcast false and defamatory statements of fact if they broadcast the program, and they made the affirmative decision to ignore that warning and broadcast it anyway,” said Clare. Law and crime, noting that “other outlets have declined to host it.”
YouTube and Vimeo quickly removed the film hours after it was released on their platforms on Friday. A spokesperson for YouTube explained Vice News that the content of the film “violated our presidential election integrity policy.”
Politifact, a non-profit fact-checking website operated by the Poynter Institute, has rated the film as “not intended to be taken as fact” and concluded that its content does not provide the evidence the title promises.
“The video, which arrives after about two hours, revives old conspiracy theories and touches on allegations that have been repeatedly debunked by state and local officials, thrown out by the courts and contradicted by federal agencies,” said Politifact.
Newsweek reached out to One American News for comment.