https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna67127Trump supporter ‘Diamond’ died of heart disease, death certificate says
Online speculation had surrounded the loss of the 51-year-old "Diamond and Silk" member.
President Donald Trump with conservative social media figures Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, known as the duo "Diamond and Silk" in 2019
President Donald Trump hugs conservative social media figures Lynnette Hardaway (left), known as Diamond, and Rochelle Richardson, known as Silk, of the duo Diamond and Silk at a social media summit in 2019.
Oliver Contreras / Sipa USA via AP/FILE
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Jan. 24, 2023, 1:33 AM EST / Source: Associated Press
By The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — Lynette Hardaway, a zealous supporter of former President Donald Trump whose death had prompted widespread speculation over its cause, died earlier this month of a heart condition, according to a death certificate obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Known by the stage name “Diamond” of the conservative political commentary duo Diamond and Silk,
Hardaway, 51, died Jan. 8 of heart disease caused by chronic high blood pressure.Hardaway and her sister, Rochelle “Silk” Richardson, found internet stardom as Black women who ardently backed Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. After making several campaign appearances with the former president, the two leveraged their fame to land regular commentator roles at Fox News. Their promotion of coronavirus falsities eventually got them dropped, but they landed at the far-right cable and digital media platform Newsmax.
The cause of Hardaway’s death, which was not released by the family, had become a topic of broad speculation. A torrent of social media users suggested Covid-19 was to blame.
Many of the posts were based on an unsourced, and since-deleted, online report from November that claimed Hardaway had been hospitalized with Covid-19. Both Diamond and Silk vehemently denied that the virus had put Hardaway in the hospital.
Covid-19 was not listed as a cause or contributing factor on her death certificate, which was provided to the AP by the Hoke County Register of Deeds and was signed by a local doctor. No autopsy was performed.
