Who better to criticize the Congressional Black Caucus’ response to Trump’s recent State of the Union speech than “Diamond and Silk” - Donald Trump’s most devoted African-American cheerleaders (and Fox enablers)?
After Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, Fox host Martha MacCallum expressed displeasure with Democrats and, specifically, members of the Congressional Black Caucus who did not applaud when Trump took credit for the decrease in black unemployment. This narrative of “ungrateful black folks” continued Wednesday, during Fox & Friends' gushing coverage of the awesomeness of Trump’s teleprompter speech.
Aiding and abetting this thinly-veiled racism were You Tube, uh, personalities (?) Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson otherwise known as “Diamond and Silk.” These two political pundits (?) have taken their call-and-response (Diamond preaches and Silk agrees) to Fox News where their incisive commentary (?) has included the belief that liberals are trying to destroy America and blacks are the real racists. They also had no problem with Trump’s defense of the Charlottesville Nazis.
At the beginning of the interview, cohost Steve Doocy smirked as he began the "Democrats did not show the requisite homage to Trump" framing with video of Trump’s self-adulation over the minority unemployment rate. Then he introduced “social media stars and Trump supporters” Diamond and Silk and asked for their reaction to the fact that despite “some topics that bring us all together, the Democrats did not stand.”
Diamond started the Trump revival meeting: “That’s what these Democratic lawmakers do, they sit down on the American people. Here we have a president that wants to stand for all Americans and you have these Democratic lawmakers saying they want to sit down on us.”
Diamond Compares Democratic Policies To Jim Crow
Diamond predicted that the Democratic behavior “won’t be tolerated” because “They want to take us back to the Jim Crow days.” (Actually, Diamond, the Democrats are fighting against the kind of discrimination that was practiced during Jim Crow and still exists in areas such as voter suppression which was a common practice during Jim Crow!) She accused the Democrats of “manipulating and intimidating” black people and compared this supposed manipulation to an unidentified president who said “we’re gonna give you enough to keep you quiet but not enough to make a difference.”
Cohost Brian Kilmeade reminded us of those ungrateful blacks: “The Congressional Black Caucus sat the whole entire time.”
Diamond asserted that Trump is “making a difference” for African Americans and that "He truly is making America great again.” She praised him as a businessman who has lowered the black unemployment rate. (Fact check: the black unemployment rate has been coming down for years and at a slower rate under Trump.)
In comparing the awesomeness of Trump to Obama, Diamond made the bogus claim that Obama didn’t do much about prison reform.
Diamond continued to gush over how Trump wants to do “amazing things” and is “fighting for the American people.” The Fox Friends agreed when she said, "We need to get behind him” because “I’ve never, in my lifetime, seen anything like this. I am so happy and proud to be an American.”
She claimed that “everybody is getting on the Trump train” – a claim that doesn’t seem to be supported given that only 15% of African-Americans support Trump! In case you didn’t know, Diamond informed us that “we love” Trump,” that blacks aren’t fooled by Democrats and are leaving the “Democratic plantation.”
In describing Diamond and Silk, Dr. James Thomas Jones III, an African-American professor, says this: “After watching these two sisters ‘perform’, I am reminded of the great Malcolm X quote, “It was a circus, with clowns and all!”
And when it comes to political circuses, Fox News is a very big tent!
Watch this act below, from the January 31, 2018 Fox & Friends.
