Video of Donald Trump Saying He 'Just Learned' About Silk Viewed 1M Times

A video where former President Donald Trump said he had "just learned" about Herneitha Hardaway, better known as media personality 'Silk,' has gone viral, after she spoke at a memorial event for her sister, Ineitha.

In the clip, Trump heaped praise on both Ineitha and Herneitha Hardaway Richardson, known as the conservative commentators Diamond and Silk, at the service held at the Crown Theater, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Trump was among conservative figures who attended the event and paid tribute to Hardaway whose death was announced on January 12. She was 51 when she died.

Hardaway's cause of death has not been released, although Herneitha dismissed claims she had died from COVID-19.

An edited clip of Trump's speech was shared on Twitter by former Republican and federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, where the former president admitted to not knowing Herneitha well.

He said: "The world has lost one of its brightest stars, a real star. We have another star who is equal to but she has stepped up and she is different.

"I'm serious, I thought I knew them both but I didn't. I knew Diamond, but I didn't know Silk at all. I just learned about Silk. You're fantastic, you're going to carry on beyond anyone's wildest imagination."

Since the edited clip was shared on Twitter late on Saturday, January 21, it has gone on to be seen more than one million times.

Speaking at the event, Herneitha told attendees that Trump had offered to pay for the entire event.

At the event, the commentator also appeared to question the events surrounding her sister's death and added: "As soon as Diamond hung up her phone, she said to me 'I can't breathe.' It was suddenly, out of nowhere, and no warning."

Herneitha said she gave her sister care while on the phone to 999 and that emergency services arrived, but were unable to save her life despite doing "everything that they could."

She later continued: "So, what I want to say to everybody is don't you dare call me a conspiracy theorist because I saw it happen, I saw how it happened, I was there when it happened and it happened suddenly. I want America to wake up and pay attention, something ain't right. It's time to investigate what's really going on here. And get some answers to why our people are falling dead suddenly."

The media personality also said: "Instead of asking if Americans are vaxxed or unvaxxed, the real question to ask is 'Are Americans being poisoned."

"In the wild, when they want to depopulate and sterilize a large group of animals, they usually inject one animal and that one animal infects the rest of the animals."

Her statements have been shared among vaccine skeptics online and have been viewed by millions of people.

Diamond and Silk previously made unfounded claims about COVID-19 as well as the vaccines for the virus.

The duo's statements stand in contrast to Trump, who has gone on record to say he has been vaccinated and has praised the rollout of the vaccination program in the U.S., something that has upset many of his supporters.

There is no evidence to support her claims that the COVID-19 vaccine can somehow infect and poison those who have not been inoculated against the virus.

The term, better known as vaccine shedding, is the release of a component in or outside the body and can only occur when a vaccine contains a live weakened version of the virus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "None of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain a live virus. mRNA and viral vector vaccines are the two types of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines available."

A January 2022 John Hopkins Medicine post stated the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna that were authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are "very safe and very good at preventing serious or fatal cases of COVID-19."

It added: "Roughly 12 months of data, including data from tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials, show that the vaccines are safe and effective at preventing serious disease or death due to COVID-19."

But the FDA did note that due to potential blood clots following the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the CDC updated its recommendations in December 2021 and that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine were preferred over it.

Newsweek has contacted Silk's company, Diamond and Silk, for comment.

Update 22/01/22, 11:09 a.m. ET: This article was updated to make clear Diamond and Silk is the company's name.