FLASHBACK: Trump supporters Diamond and Silk were paid $7K to cut campaign ad for Wisconsin neo-Nazi

BRAD REED
26 APR 2018 AT 15:09 ET

Diamond and Silk, the Trump-loving social media duo who potentially committed perjury during congressional testimony on Thursday, were once paid thousands of dollars to endorse a Republican congressional candidate who later revealed himself to be a white nationalist.

Federal Elections Commission records show that Diamond and Silk were paid a total of $7,025 by Volunteers for Nehlen, which was working to elect Paul Nehlen in a primary challenge against House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI). According to FEC filings, the organization paid Diamond and Silk money for “online advertising.”

Shortly after the payment went through, the two women posted an ad on Nehlen’s behalf in which they said he would support American workers, whereas Ryan was known for letting American jobs get shipped overseas. At one point, they even held up a hot dog and angrily waved it at the camera to demonstrate their rage at Ryan allegedly letting Oscar Meyer offshore its jobs.

Nehlen, who at the time was pitching himself as a Trump-like alternative to Ryan, later gained notoriety for promoting a book frequently touted by neo-Nazis that blamed Jews for anti-Semitism.

After getting banned from Twitter, Nehlen joined the right-wing social media platform Gab, where he approvingly posted links to the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website. He was subsequently banned from Gab after he revealed the identity of infamous white nationalist internet troll Ricky Vaughan.

Watch Diamond and Silk’s endorsement of Nehlen below.

Link to tweet