Joe Perticone/INSIDER
- Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa introduced the "Diamond and Silk Act" with the Trump-supporting media personalities by his side.
- The bill aims to redirect federal funds for "sanctuary cities" to helping homeless military veterans.
- The press conference quickly flew off the handle, with Diamond and Silk screaming at reporters while F-35 jets circled over Washington.
- Republican leaders stripped King of all his committee assignments earlier in the year for repeatedly making racist statements.
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WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, who GOP leaders severely punished for racist comments earlier in the year, held a press conference alongside the President Donald Trump-supporting media personalities Diamond and Silk to introduce legislation named after the Fox News regulars.
The press conference quickly spiraled out of control, with Diamond and Silk shouting at reporters while King deflected questions and at several points stood behind them.
Read more: Pro-Trump vloggers Diamond and Silk testified before Congress — and it got out of hand fast
King introduced the "End Sanctuaries and Help Our American Homeless and Veterans Act," which he instead referred to as the "Diamond and Silk Act" because the North Carolina-based duo helped author the bill with him.
The legislation, which is unlikely to be considered due to King being both in the minority and a pariah in his own party with no committee assignments, aims to redirect federal funds meant for sanctuary cities to help homeless military veterans. Conservative pundits derided the bill as a political stunt at the expense of homeless veterans.
Immediately after reporters began to ask questions about the bill, King being stripped of his committee assignments, and him being barred from boarding Air Force One along with the rest of the Iowa delegation to attend events with Trump in the Hawkeye State on Tuesday, Diamond and Silk commandeered the microphone.
Diamond, whose real name is Lynnette Hardaway, said she recently took a trip to San Francisco with Silk (real name Rochelle Richardson). On that trip Diamond described a gruesome scene of "Americans out of their minds, living on the streets, doped up."
"You know, it just amazes me how they want to get rid of white straws and plastic straws, but they want to give out plastic syringes," she said. "You want to get rid of white straws? How about you get rid of white crack? White cocaine? How about you get rid of the heroine?"
Diamond spoke at length about the amount of times she witnessed individuals defecating on the streets of San Francisco.
"Listen, defecating on the streets, out of their minds, shooting up on the streets," she said. "When you go outside of your door and it look like a full toilet, you’ve got to be stepping across sugar honey iced tea, something is seriously wrong."
Read more: Trump vloggers Diamond & Silk are sticking to their debunked claim about Facebook censorship
When asked what her thoughts were on King retweeting white supremacists, Diamond questioned what that term even means and lectured the reporter on how to work on behalf of the American public.
The duo, who did most of the talking during the press conference while King stood behind them, also dismissed the idea of working with organizations that aim to reduce homelessness, suggesting they are all corrupt and "skim money from the top and give everybody what’s left at the bottom."
"I’m tired of going through these groups. I don’t have to go through a group," Diamond said. "I go meet with the source."
Toward the end of the press conference, multiple F-35 jets ripped across the sky as part of pre-planned military exercise. The sound nearly drowned out Diamond and Silk’s shouting, which continued even after King tried to wrap up the press conference.
The congressman and duo then gave a brief interview to the openly pro-Trump One America News Network (OANN) before getting into a car and driving off the Capitol grounds.
See Also:
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- The deal that Trump announced to avert tariffs on Mexico reportedly mostly includes things Mexico agreed to do months earlier
- Fox News host Brian Kilmeade says migrants are ‘mocking’ Trump’s border wall by walking around it
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Source: Business Insider – jperticone@businessinsider.com (Joe Perticone)