Although they are not delegates to the convention, the multi-media duo known as "Diamond and Silk" appeared at a women's event in Cleveland to let everyone know why they're supporting Donald Trump.
Sisters Lynette "Diamond" Hardaway and Rochelle "Silk" Richardson headlined an event called, "What Women Problem?" on Monday morning. Of course the very phrasing of the question indicates the rocky and controversial road Donald Trump has traveled with regard to his comments on women. With African-American women overwhelmingly voting for Hillary Clinton, "Diamond and Silk" occupy a rare place of Black female support for Trump.
"We have been voting for the same system for years. I feel like they keep handing us crumbs, the same thing. When you look on TV and you see some of the violence and things that are happening we're tired of seeing that. I think we need real change. I think we need an outsider to come in and clean up this insider mess. That why we're voting for Donald Trump," Hardaway told NBCBLK.
Despite the controversies that have surrounded the candidate and his rhetoric, the sisters remain very vocal in their support. That support links back to a familiar refrain many voters have touched on after years of gridlock in Congress coupled with stagnating wages and a feeling that little is fundamentally changing for middle class Americans.
"When it comes to small business and creating entrepreneurs, so that they can create jobs, and communities can thrive again—that's why we support Trump," said Hardaway. "We had the opportunity yesterday to go into quote unquote "the hood," and you see the impoverished areas and that people are oppressed that's a problem. That's what causes people to rise up. These are the people we need to get back again."
"[Poverty] makes them angry and it keeps them angry and they don't know how to channel all the anger. So that's when they explode," said Richardson.
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The duo emphasized that Trump has done more than President Obama did as a presidential candidate just by explicitly saying he would focus on African American issues. They also said they are attracted to Trump's focus on business as a form of job creation.
"There's something deeper under the surface. I believe that African-Americans thought that when they got the first African-American president it would solve the problems but it didn't," Hardaway added. "Trump has said he will be the greatest President for African-Americans while he [President Obama] has never said that."
Though there aren't many African Americans who will take the stage this week at the Republican National Convention, Richardson and Hardaway aren't the only ones that have traveled to Ohio. Three speakers from the National Diversity Coalition for Trump will give remarks this week: Rev. Darrell Scott, Omorosa Manifault and Dr. Ben Carson.
