POTUS BFFS

Diamond & Silk Are Now Practically ‘Senior Advisers’ to the President Through the TV

The president has grown fond of the duo known for acid-tongued takedowns and pro-Trump rap songs.

At a time when President Donald Trump is eager to surround himself with supportive television personalities, he’s taken a particular liking to a pair of YouTube stars known for, among other things, a pro-Trump, anti-Eminem rap song titled “Trump’s Yo President.”

Diamond & Silk are not your prototypical Trump boosters. They are African-American women who have relied on the internet for their rise to fame (or infamy, depending on your political posture). They are known, predominantly, for their direct-to-camera, impassioned defenses of the president—and acid-tongued takedowns of his critics. But in recent weeks, the two have had a growing presence on Fox News, which has, in turn, put their commentary squarely on Trump’s radar. And, according to White House officials, he’s impressed.

Within the halls of the White House, Trump has repeatedly commented to aides over the past several months about how much he enjoys catching Diamond & Silk on TV, referencing specific clips and interviews they’ve done on shows such as Fox & Friends or Hannity, two West Wing officials and an outside Trump ally tell The Daily Beast.

According to those close to the president, Trump finds their unabashedly loyalty, as well as their style and flair, “fantastic.”

Officials could not, however, confirm if Trump had seen the “Trump’s Yo President” rap.

Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson initially gained prominence for their “Stump for Trump” YouTube videos. Their vociferous, comically flamboyant support for Trump—and willingness to defend his racially divisive rhetoric—went viral during the 2016 campaign, earning them spots opening up for Trump before his campaign rallies.

In recent months, they have all but disappeared from all of the major networks—except Fox News. At the network, they remain relatively small players. One person familiar with Fox News’ online traffic said that the duo are not mentioned during Fox News daily traffic meetings alongside high-performing conservative pundits like contributor Tomi Lahren. They also lack strong relationships with many of the top brass, owing, in part, to the fact that they generally don’t appear during segments with other guests and typically appear remotely.

Several prominent on-air personalities at Fox News reached by The Daily Beast said they were either unaware of who they were, or did not think much of their appearances on the network.

But Diamond & Silk do have key ties to some of Fox News’ biggest players, several of whom enjoy strong relationships with Trump. They’re favorites of Trump fanboy Jesse Watters, who has plugged their website on air and had them on his weekend show almost every week this year. They also are increasingly booked on Fox & Friends, where they sound off about the news of the day.

In part because of those appearances, the two have become a social fixture in the larger Trump universe. Though president has been tweeting about or at them since at least December 2015—dubbing them “two amazing women” and “two truly fantastic women!”—the pair now find themselves regularly invited to high-profile Trump parties, including events at the White House and even Lara Trump’s baby shower.

One senior Trump administration official joked to The Daily Beast that Diamond & Silk could double as “senior economic advisers to” the president, citing, among other clips, a Fox & Friends segment in which the pair declared that “black unemployment is low and home ownership is high” in the Trump era.

“We’ve been on this ride for a long time, but they… one of the first that [were] out there,” says Mark Burns, a pro-Trump black pastor and congressional contender who, like Diamond & Silk, hit the 2016 trail in support of Trump. “It’s not an act for them. What you see on television is what you see privately… That’s one of the reasons why the president has favored them and favored people like myself… There’s not a hidden agenda. They believe, like I do, that the Democratic Party has used the black vote for so long, and has essentially pimped out the black community for votes.

“Diamond & Silk are the real deal,” Burns stressed.

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Asawin SuebsaengSenior Political Reporter

Maxwell TaniMedia reporter

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