Minor point of order, but who paid for all the expenses of Trump fans "Diamond and Silk"?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Last edited Wed Nov 1, 2017, 10:38 AM - Edit history (1)

For those not in the know, Diamond and Silk are the nicknames for Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, two African American women with a significant social media following who purport to be major fans of Donald Trump. In their frequent online videos, they appeared to heavily play up the image of being "sassy black women" while extolling the virtues of Donald Trump and attacking anyone who appeared to be critical of him.

Diamond and Silk started stumping for Trump back in 2015 when he was still just one of many Republican candidates for the nomination. Since Trump took office, they haven't ceased making their videos, however. They're still out there. Trump himself follows their postings on Twitter.

The thing about Diamond and Silk is that while they played heavily towards portraying an essentially stereotypical view of African American women, it's unclear who their target audience was truly intended to be.

All the African-American people I know viewed Diamond and Silk as nothing more than a joke and a rather pathetic attempt to sell Trump to the black community, who almost universally rejected Trump.

But you have to wonder if that was even their intended audience, or whether it was rather a way to soften Trump to potential white voters who aren't necessarily avowed, conscious racists. I mean, how could Donald Trump be racist? He has two African American women as his biggest fans!

They didn't just post on social media, however. They engaged in a national tour during the campaign in support of Trump. They also appeared with Lara Trump (Eric's wife) and warmed up the crowd in advance of several Trump rallies. Disclosures claim they were paid a little over $1,000 for their time, but that would hardly seem to have made a dent in their full expenses, especially considering they're still out there today shilling for Trump.

Given that we've heard about Russian money flowing into social media promotion of Trump, you have to wonder if the whole Diamond and Silk deal was just one of many manifestations of this intrusion and attempt to influence gullible voters in favor of Trump.

[bluepen]

1. I wondered the same thing. Not the first time I saw

them, but maybe the third or fourth time. It seemed a little too well-produced and orchestrated of an effort. Who knows? Maybe they’re genuine. Worth looking into, though.

[Mrs. Overall]

2. That duo never made sense to me.

I'm glad you posted about them.

Maybe someone has some insight.

[HipChick]

3. African-American's do not claim them..

None that I've ever recalled...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. I can't see how they can.

Like I said, I think it's a play more towards gullible white people trying to find some justification against Trump's racism.

[HipChick]

5. Exactly...

[lunasun]

6. They are only there for white people to point to should anyone mention racism

I imagine they are making plenty off the gig , YouTube, and merch they hawk on thier website

[SweetieD]

7. I am sure they have some pass through llc to get paid by some conservative millionaire or

Billionaire. But even still I doubt they pay them that much. They are probably getting suckered. I read that they had a beauty shop in North Carolina or wherever they are from. But that after all their publicity with Trump that their business has suffered.