President Donald Trump, the head of the American Conservative Union, and a number of other MAGA boosters have rallied behind right-wing vlogging superstars Diamond & Silk after Fox News cut ties with the duo over their relentless peddling of coronavirus conspiracy theories and misinformation.
The Trump-boosting sisters, who contributed weekly video posts to the network’s streaming service Fox Nation since late 2018, suddenly stopped adding new episodes in early April. A source with knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast on Monday, “After what they’ve said and tweeted you won’t be seeing them on Fox Nation or Fox News anytime soon.”
Among their many wild remarks about the virus, Diamond & Silk at different times suggested that COVID-19 was “engineered” possibly with “a little deep-state action;” that Bill Gates was pushing a vaccine as a means of population control; that 5G technology was being used to deliberately infect people; and that the death toll of the pandemic was being inflated.
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Although the pair did not respond to any requests for comment on their Fox ouster, the sisters—real names Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway and Herneitha Rochelle Richardson—took to social media to not-so-subtly reference their exit.
“Haters keep saying they hate Diamond and Silk, but you can’t hate what you ain't never loved!” Diamond & Silk tweeted on Monday night.
It didn’t take long for President Trump—who often featured the duo at his rallies and at one point treated them as unofficial “senior advisers”—to react to the news of Diamond & Silk’s ouster. Quoting their tweet, Trump expressed his love for the sibling team, who also serve as co-chairs of his campaign’s Black Voices for Trump.
“But I love Diamond & Silk, and so do millions of people!” the president shared with his 78+ million Twitter followers on Tuesday morning.
Despite Fox’s decision to give Diamond & Silk the boot, and the pair’s history of making absolutely bonkers claims about the coronavirus pandemic, some of the president’s most sycophantic allies jumped in to declare their support for the Trump surrogates.
American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, a frequent Fox News guest whose wife is an ex-White House staffer currently working on the Trump campaign, defiantly claimed that despite their controversies, Diamond & Silk would be invited to next year’s Conservative Political Action Conference. (The siblings were featured speakers at this year’s event.)
After a conservative columnist noted that it tells you “all you need to know (and none of it is good)” that Schlapp sees it as a “point of pride” that he would bring Diamond & Silk back to the conservative conference, Schlapp replied, “I’m feeling good.”
Schlapp also took issue with a Washington Post reporter pointing out that the sisters’ parents were televangelists who have pushed snake-oil cures, claiming the journalist was simply attacking the duo’s “Christian faith.”
Conservative “comedian” Terrence Williams—a frequent Fox guest who, along with Diamond & Silk, recently met with the president for a Black History Month event—also declared his support for the ousted duo.
“I’ve met these ladies & one thing I know is they love America and support President @realDonaldTrump,” he added. “Big Tech & The Lamestream Media want to shut down @DiamondandSilk because they left the Democratic Plantation.”
Notably, Williams came under fire last summer after his conspiratorial rant about Hillary Clinton and deceased serial sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein was retweeted by the president. The president later waved off the controversy, citing Williams’ large Twitter following as a reason why he shared the “#ClintonBodyCount” post.
Other D-list MAGA stars who lent their support to Diamond & Silk included David Wohl, a former Fox News personality and the father of notorious troll Jacob Wohl, who specifically took issue with Fox ditching Diamond & Silk while retaining former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile as a contributor; and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine, who lamented that “America loves Diamond and Silk... It's only the pathetic MSM that does hit pieces.”
