Tres Chiles Picosos, a Mexican restaurant in Humboldt County, became the subject of intense social media backlash last week after it posted a photo celebrating a visit from Mike Lindell, the so-called MyPillow Guy who rose to notoriety a few years ago for his conspiratorial views on COVID-19 and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The restaurant’s owner, Michelle Hill, told SFGATE that two employees — a waitress and a bartender — recognized Lindell because they buy his MyPillow products, and were unfamiliar with his role in national politics. Hill said she allowed a manager to post the photo on the restaurant’s Facebook page because her staff was excited that a quasi-celebrity like Lindell had visited; it was not intended to be a political statement, she said.
“I don’t get into politics,” she said. “We knew nothing about him apart from that he’s the MyPillow guy … my staff buys his pillows, his sheets, his socks, they were just excited to see someone famous.”
But some social media users thought that Tres Chiles Picosos associating with Lindell goes beyond normal partisan politics. The MyPillow CEO garnered widespread recognition after the 2020 presidential race for his role in supporting former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results. Most famously, those efforts included repeated false claims that certain voting machines in some states had been tampered with. Lindell is under federal investigation for actions he took in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
R&I ~ MJM
