- I'm hearing that these 5G towers are going up.
- Mm-hmm.
- And if they're in certain places,
the frequency of that can really throw your body off.
It can also cause, for your genetic material
to test for COVID-19.
- [Rob] That's Diamond and Silk.
Sister Trump surrogates with a big internet following.
The duo went viral throughout the Trump campaign,
launching them from their living room to Fox News
as outspoken Trump supporters.
But they were recently ousted from the network
after pushing conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
So who are they?
I'm comedian Rob Haze, and this is the story
of Trump's favorite sister act.
Ineitha Lynette Hardaway, or Diamond,
and Herneitha Rochelle Hardaway Richardson, or Silk,
were born a year apart in the early '70s
in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Their mother, Betty Hardaway, and father Freeman,
are long-time televangelist pastors
who supplemented their income over the years
by selling herbal concoctions, pillows,
blessed dolls, and wreaths that ward off witchcraft.
- Somebody did this, put old dead cat head
up on my porch, listen.
Get this door wreath.
Get this door wreath that I believe as a point of contact
will ward off witchcraft.
- [Rob] Prior to pushing Trump's rhetoric
further into the ether, Diamond and Silk were Democrats.
Like many Black voters in North Carolina.
But when one former game show host and alleged rapist,
Donald J. Trump threw his name in the race
for the presidency, Diamond and Silk switched parties.
- So we got off of that Democrat plantation.
(crowd cheering)
And we switched our party to Republican
to vote for Donald J. Trump. (crowd cheering)
- [Rob] The duo's newly adopted party
was in the hot seat in their home state
after GOP-led North Carolina lawmakers
passed a restrictive voter ID law in 2013
that cut a week of early voting,
eliminated out-of-precinct voting,
and required voters to show specific types of photo ID.
Restrictions that election board data demonstrated
would disproportionately affect African Americans
and other minorities.
In 2016, months prior to Trump's election,
a federal appeals panel struck down the law,
calling it "the most restrictive voting law
"North Carolina has seen since the era of Jim Crow."
And several Republican lawmakers
targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision.
But voter disenfranchisement being led
by their newly adopted party didn't seem
to bother the sisters at all.
And neither did Trump's decades of racist behavior.
When Diamond and Silk started their YouTube channel,
it was initially television criticism vlogs.
But when they started posting in support
of their favorite thrice married reality star,
they began to see an increase in viewership.
And they stuck with it.
In the videos, Diamond acts as the Letterman
to Silk's Shaffer.
In other words, Diamond often takes charge
and Silk reaffirms everything she says.
- Uh huh.
- [Rob] One of their earliest videos on Trump
is dated July 5th, 2015.
It only features Diamond and it's called
"Dump the Rest of Those Chumps
and Vote for Donald Trump in 2016".
- We can't just have that damn border open
for everybody to come up in here!
We don't know who walkin' amongst us!
So that border got to be secure,
so he didn't lie about that.
- [Rob] The two were launched into stardom
and frequently went viral.
In one of their most popular uploads,
Diamond goes on an anti-Megyn Kelly rant
after Kelly asked Trump the previous night
in a debate to respond to comments he's made about women.
Where's he's called them "fat pigs", "dogs", and "slobs".
Diamond and Silk's video, which is titled
"Megyn Kelly Starts a War with Donald Trump at the Debate",
featured both the sisters,
and today has nearly two million views.
- You know perhaps you don't need to be hostin' debates!
- Perhaps!
- Perhaps what she needs to do,
maybe it's time for us to fire Kelly
and make her go back to reporting news,
- Yeah. - At the local news.
- Aw yeah. - Try Sesame Street!
- [Rob] The sisters were quickly invited on Fox News.
- Two women have become an overnight internet sensation.
Earlier I spoke with Ineitha Diamond Hardaway
and Rochelle Silk Richardson.
- [Rob] Just a few months later,
Trump held a campaign rally in their home state
and invited the sisters on stage.
- And I see these two on television.
(audience members cheer) (Diamond and Silk laugh)
I say they are the greatest, what is it?
They became an internet sensation.
I hope you've monetized it a little bit.
- [Rob] Today their YouTube channel
has over 267,000 subscribers.
(upbeat music)
Their Facebook page is even more popular,
with over 1.8 million likes.
But considering Trump only received 8%
of the Black vote in 2016, most of their fans,
which the Washington Post dug up,
are middle-aged white women.
But regardless, business was booming.
They trademarked Diamond and Silk
and started selling items on their web store,
like a $20 bobble head. (ding)
$25 branded wine glass. (ding)
And even a 1.99 (ding) MP3 download
of a real song they made about a fact,
called "Trumps Yo President".
♪ Trump's yo president, he's yo president ♪
- [Rob] They were regulars on Fox shows
like "Hannity", "Watters' World",
"The Ingraham Angle", and "Fox and Friends".
In 2018, they were given their own show on Fox Nation,
the network's online streaming service.
The spotlight even allowed them to team up
with white supremacist congressman Steve King
to try to promote new legislation
he'd helped craft, which failed.
But it all came crashing down in March of 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic prompted a national emergency
and much of the country retreated to their homes
in fear of becoming infected.
That's when the duo promoted various
conspiracy theories about the pandemic.
Fox News cut ties with the sisters
after they amplified misinformation
about the novel coronavirus.
It's unclear what remark got them the boot from Fox News,
a station which is seemingly okay with guests
saying and doing pretty much anything.
Maybe it was when they said that coronavirus death numbers
were inflated to make Trump look bad.
- Right. - What you're tryin' to do
is your politicizing - Yes!
- To make somebody look bad.
So is this being deliberately spreaded?
I'm just, look!
I'm not being a conspiracy theory.
- No!
Yeah. - This is real.
But I'm asking my own questions,
what the hell is goin' on?
- [Rob] Or maybe it was this tweet.
"The only way we can become immune to the environment,
"we must be out in the environment.
"Quarantining people inside of their houses
"for extended periods will make people sick."
Whatever remarks got them booted,
Trump is standing behind the sisters.
He quote tweeted them amid their ousting.
"But I love Diamond and Silk,
"and so do millions of people."
It's unclear where Diamond and Silk will go from here.
There has never been joint press secretaries
in the history of the U.S.
But under this president, anything is possible.
- Leave Donald Trump,
leave him alone! - Leave him alone!
Period! - Yeah!
Bye!
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