Posted on 04/26/2018 8:57:59 PM PDT by Kaslin
Pro-Trump conservative media personalities Diamond and Silk, sisters whose real names are Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday on the topic of bias against conservatives by companies like Facebook, in a hearing that frequently went off the rails. The sisters defended their claims that they were censored by the tech giant, often in very strong terms.
They said that if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was censoring liberals, “Democrats would be in the streets right now marching and calling him all types of racist.”
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) implied the sisters were making a lot of money off of Facebook, a characterization they strongly denied.
“You ladies are very impressive to me,” Rep. Johnson said, “you have taken something and moved forward with it, exercising your First Amendment rights, and you've made a ton of money off Facebook, is that correct?
“Absolutely not,” Hardaway replied angrily, “Facebook censored us for six months.”
Rep. Johnson Has Friendly Chit Chat With Diamond & Silk in Judiciary
“The point I'm trying to make is you all have been bashing Facebook and you've been making a ton of money, isn't that correct?” Johnson pressed.
“We didn't bash Facebook,” Hardaway said. “We brought the light on how Facebook has been censoring conservative voices like ours... They won't let us monetize on Facebook. They stopped it for six months, 29 days. They limited our page.”
“And Youtube did also by demonetizing 95 percent of our videos for no reason at all,” Richardson chimed in, “deeming it as hate speech.”
Johnson continued in his attempts to discuss the sisters’ profits, saying “you still sell merchandise.”
“Even if we sell merchandise that don't have anything to do with Facebook,” Hardaway replied. “Facebook censored our free speech, and shame on the ones that don't even see that we have been censored.”
Hardaway then highlighted what she claimed was a double standard in the way Facebook treats conservatives like them.
“When the Black Lives Matter people come in, everyone is up in arms,” she told Johnson. “Let me just say this here, if the shoe was on the other foot and Mark Zuckerberg was a conservative, and we were liberals, oh all fences and all chains would have broke loose. You know it and I know it. What I find appalling is that these Democrats they don't want to take up for our voice because we support the president.”
“Democrats would be in the streets,” Richardson agreed. “Democrats would be in the streets right now marching and calling him all types of racist.”
Johnson concluded his questioning with a comment that the committee is “giving you a tremendous platform with this hearing to make a ton of money when it’s over.”
“That’s right, and I hope everybody goes on Facebook and follows us," Hardaway replied. "Because that’s what it’s supposed to be about. It’s supposed to be about obtaining the American dream. We are African-American women. If illegal aliens can come over here and build businesses, why can’t we? We were born on this soil. You don’t have a right to silence my voice.”
Johnson then mocked Diamond's name saying he's "always heard diamonds are a girl's best friend" but "rather than diamonds you're seeking money with Facebook."
Hardaway wasn't having any of it.
“If Facebook is a platform for you to make money, then so be it, everybody else do it," she told Johnson. "Don’t stop us from making any. Don’t make us feel guilty because we and other people that have built their brand page want to make money. We’ve spent plenty of money.”
The sisters maintained throughout the hearing that Facebook had not directly contacted them in response to the censorship claims until April 12th, following Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress.
They also answered claims that they were lying about never having been paid by the Trump campaign. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) asked them to respond to an FEC filing showing the Trump campaign paid them $1,274.94 for field consulting in 2016.
“Nobody is lying,” Richardson told Jeffries. “However, there may have been a mistake from the Trump campaign whenever they wrote what the $1,274.94 was for.”
“This was for, because we were asked to join the Women for Trump tour back in 2016,” she said, “and Miss Lara Trump asked that our airline tickets be refunded back to us because we paid for those tickets when we went from New York to Ohio.”
“It was for a reimbursement,” she said. “Not field consulting.”
Hank Johnson? That nincompoop?
The ladies need to watch what they say, so the dems don’t trip them up with semantics. “Have you ever been paid by the president?” The ladies say no, but certain evidence shows yes. What they should say is, their expenses were reimbursed. Don’t make it so easy for the rats to dismiss you.
Hank ‘I hope folks don’t all get on one side of Guam and make that Island tip over’ Johnson. And think of what that says of the voters who believe this chap is bright enough to be a congressman!
Diamond and Silk are treasures. They have fun, but they are RIGHT all the time.
I missed getting to see the coverage today of them on the House Floor...if anyone has a non-FB link I would greatly appreciate it.
These are patriots who will NOT be shut up, and they are to be admired bigly!
FRICKING BEAUTIFUL! (and so are they!)
Liberals: black people making money off of the plantation is shady doings.
If they were progressives the Congresscritter would have never said a thing about them wanting to make a living doing what they enjoy.
But conservatives have to do what they do FOC apparently. Otherwise they’re tainted with capitalism.
Democrats and their butt boys in the press will condemn ANY conservative for jay walking before they would bother with treason by a democrat.
Diamond and Silk should just stand up to the democrat jerks. Answer how ever they want to - we have ZERO respect for democrats and we should show that ... in every way.
Worse still, it looked like the democrats trotted out their pet black members to grill these ordinary women who do not share their opinion.
An attempted public lynching by the KKK democrats, using their pet black members, on a couple of regular black women who did not stay on the democrat thought plantation.
That video moment of the ladies defending themselves from the Demo guy...will be played over and over. The Democrats should have met before this episode and just gone to bypass the ladies, and get them off the stage as quickly as possible.
What a POS!
Gads these leftists are so brutal. My question is how much money promised to offshore accounts and future promises behind closed doors NOT UNDER OATH with FB and Zuckerman? They’re really trying to railroad Diamond and Silk. For shame!
They gutted him like a big ol bass.
Johnson seemed to be trying to make the point that they are making ‘a ton of money’ and so they have no reason to be complaining.
They are awesome.
Yes, they left it to the black members to try and skewer D&S - I just heard the part with the despicable Sheila Jackson Lee, the pig who has to shove herself into the aisle to greet Macron most recently, and all the SOTU speakers.
Lee is too stupid to even understand the timeline she was trying to play “gotcha” with...obviously her questions had been set up by staff and all she could do was spew her talking points.
Sure would love to see “Diamond & Silk” hanging out with POTUS, Donald J. Trump at the massive, “Trump” political rally being held in Washington, Michigan, this coming Saturday evening at the Total Sports Park
After that blazing, non-stop Trump interview on Fox & Friends yesterday morning, and the great revealing interview of fired FBI Director, “Criminal” James Comey by Bret Baier of FNCs “Special Report”, I can’t wait until Saturday evening, April 28, 2018 at 7:00PM (EST), local, for the blockbuster, fun and games to commence.
It was “Diamonds and Silk” versus “Fools Gold”, and D&S won.
Meanwhile Johnson is reportedly going on a taxpayer paid junket to Guam to see if his fat ass and fat head will tilt the island over.
He’s from Georgia but he’s no Peach. More like a rotten apple. Is he married to that Marxist nutcase Cynthia McKinney? He sure sounds like her.
Someone should also buy Jackson Lee a calendar. She has trouble understanding that April 12 comes after April 11.
Feebleminded Hank Johnson sounded like a Johnny One Note with his repeated question to Diamond and Silk.
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