By Paul Woolverton | The Fayetteville Observer
Fayetteville-area resident Ineitha Lynnette “Diamond” Hardaway of the popular “Diamond and Silk” Trump-supporting political duo died on Monday. The media personality was 51.
A cause of death was not stated.
Hardaway and her sister, Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, rose to media fame in 2015 when they began posting videos online in support of Donald Trump for his 2016 presidential run. They are from Hoke County, just west of Fayetteville.
The sisters drew viewers with their energetic personalities, and because they were unusual in that they were two Black women from a heavily Democratic area who favored a Republican candidate.
By the end of 2015, Trump was inviting them on stage during his rallies. They appeared regularly with him over the years.
“Really bad news for Republicans and frankly, ALL Americans. Our beautiful Diamond, of Diamond and Silk, has just passed away at her home in the State she loved so much, North Carolina,” Trump said Monday night on his Truth Social website. “Silk was with her all the way, and at her passing. There was no better TEAM anywhere, or at any time! Diamond’s death was totally unexpected, probably her big and precious HEART just plain gave out. Rest In Peace our Magnificent Diamond, you will be greatly missed!”
The Twitter account for Diamond and Silk announced Hardaway’s death shortly after Trump did.
“The World just lost a True Angel and Warrior Patriot for Freedom, Love, and Humanity! Please respect the privacy of Diamond’s family! Memorial Ceremony TBA,” a tweet posted at 9:23 p.m. says.
The account says money is being raised for “Preserving Diamond’s Legacy,” and there is a link to a GiveSendGo webpage for a memorial fund in her name. Other than saying the money will be sent to Richardson, it does not say how the money will be used. As of midafternoon Tuesday, more than $49,000 had been raised.
In an interview with The Fayetteville Observer in December 2015, Hardaway and Richardson said they recorded their first videos with an iPad tablet computer. At first, they had a handful of subscribers on their YouTube channel, called “The Viewers View.” By the end of the year, some of their videos were pulling in more than a million viewers, and the sisters were making national television appearances.
“We had no idea it was going to do all this,” Hardaway said at the time.
The oldest video on their YouTube channel, from Jan. 2, 2015, is called “Black Lives Matter.” It’s a montage of photos of law enforcement attacking Black people in the 1800s, 1900s and 21st century.
Text in the video says, “Has anything changed?”
The next video on the channel is from July 5, 2015. It’s Hardaway alone — her sister Richardson would join on the next video — announcing her support for Trump in the 2016 election because of his immigration and border security policies. Hardaway accuses the news media of “spinning this story” and “taking what he said out of context,” and she says she was thinking of switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
She and Richardson later became Republicans and they have been avid Trump supporters.
Hardaway in December 2015 said Trump’s economic policies had meaning to her and her sister, and others in Southeastern North Carolina. “Because, as you all know, here in North Carolina there was a lot of manufacturing jobs sent overseas. Now people — a family of four is trying to make it off of minimum wage working at a McDonald’s,” she said.
Richardson joined Hardaway on their videos and they developed a signature style of Hardaway and Richardson playing off each other and punctuating each others’ points with a word or a phrase of agreement.
By the end of the year, the sisters had a website selling Diamond and Silk themed merchandise. Their following grew into millions online across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Gettr, Truth Social and other social media sites and apps.
They stuck with their support of Trump after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, and have questioned the investigation into the riots on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters fought with police and entered the U.S. Capitol as Congress was voting to certify the election results.
Their videos not only promoted their thoughts on politics, but also their products, such as a skin-care line.
The sisters used to have a weekly program on the Fox Nation television service, but Fox dropped them after it concluded they were spreading false information about the coronavirus, The Daily Beast reported.
The right-wing Newsmax channel picked them up with a weekly show called “Diamond and Silk Crystal Clear.”
A legacy of encouraging Black Republicans
Diamond and Silk encouraged Black conservatives, said Chairman Chris Holland of the Hoke County Republican Party.
“Once Diamond and Silk came on the scene, the national scene, there were more Black conservatives that — that found their voice and came out and, you know, like I said, weren’t shy about presenting their views to the public,” he said.
Mostly the sisters worked on the national level, Holland said, but locally they sometimes made public appearances. They spoke in summer 2021 to the Hoke County Board to discuss Critical Race Theory, a topic that has stirred the passions of voters on the political right wing.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hardaway family in their time of sorrow,” he said on behalf of the Hoke County GOP. “Lynnette rose to fame as ardent supporter of conservative values.” Her contribution “to the national discussion will be terribly missed.”