Fox Nation hosts Diamond & Silk raised eyebrows when a recent clip of their questioning coronavirus death tolls as part of some larger anti-Trump conspiracy went viral.

The North Carolinian natives Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, better known as Diamond and Silk, became famous as video bloggers and social media influencers who were vocal supporters of then-candidate Donald Trump.  Their media influence only became bigger as Trump moved into the White House and they became very frequent quests on many opinion-based Fox News programs.

During a video blog post that went up Monday, the two suggested that the rising death toll as a result of a coronavirus was not actually real, but was some conspiracy designed to damage President Trump politically. Watch below:

Diamond & Silk are speculating coronavirus deaths are being inflated to make Trump look bad pic.twitter.com/hBnB7422UP

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) March 30, 2020

As you can see, above there is a clear suggestion that exponential deaths as a result of Covid-19 is a media conspiracy. Why? Because in Diamond and Silk’s purview, only one person died in the first 39 days of the coronavirus scare, but an additional 1,000 people who “supposedly died” from the coronavirus in the past week. “Watch the numbers go up,” was then said, followed by “they want to make it look bad.”

The idea that the death toll is a media creation is not only unproven but also a remarkably dangerous undermining of reliable information outlets, including President Trump’s own administration.

After watching this clip, viewers who trust and believe Diamond & Silk are left to believe that the coronavirus pandemic is largely a media conspiracy and will almost certainly ignore other orders of self-quarantining and social distancing designed to limit the death toll that, according to White House officials, could come to 100,00o to 200,000 deaths

The First Amendment makes clear that anyone is free to say whatever crazy thing they want to say. What makes Diamond & Silk so uniquely influential is the platform they are afforded on Fox Nation.

Fox Nation, of course, is the subscription-based streaming service that features exclusive opinion programming, which features the show Diamond & Silk, hosted by Fayetteville, North Carolina natives. As part of the ongoing promotion of the fledgling streaming service, the two political activists and social media sensations often show up on a myriad of Fox News opinion shows.

Under different circumstances, Diamond & Silk’s brand of binary political finger-pointing is understandable, even may be seen as good fun by many of their viewers. But during a global pandemic when so many lives are at risk, unproven conspiracy theories are literally deadly. And those who provide the enormous platform to irresponsible commentary should also be held to account.

Diamond & Silk are not employed by Fox News, but their content is licensed in the same manner that many television or streaming programs are underwritten by networks. When reached for comment, Fox News had nothing in response.

 

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/2Jtjk66