After becoming familiar faces during the 2016 presidential election campaign, YouTube stars Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson—better known as “Diamond” and “Silk,” are once again back in the news. They recently popped up on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Twitter account after the department invited them to its headquarters, apparently to discuss ways in which they could expand their business.
Diamond and Silk run a political blog that promotes President Trump and attacks his critics. The Commerce Department revealed that the pair had visited the department by posting a photo on the department’s official Twitter account. The two women met with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to “discuss how to grow their business and build their brand.”
The tweet that revealed their visit to the department was removed after a few hours.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Department said the tweet was deleted “out of an abundance of caution” because the department was not sure they had official permission to post the photo. The spokesperson said, “Diamond and Silk were here to talk about minority business development. They reached out to the Acting National Director of MBDA, [whom] they had met previously, to discuss how best to help the minority business community.”
Diamond and Silk are now darlings of the conservative elite. They have made several appearances on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show and have been guests at White House political aide Omarosa Manigault’s wedding at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Well, if they indeed actually managed to get paid (as opposed to just appearing as “accounts payable” on the books), they’re overlooking a business opportunity: They should be hiring out as consultants to all of the contractors who haven’t yet figured out how to get paid for work they do for him.