Donald Trump has defended a pair of right-wing commentators and activists who have reportedly been fired from Fox after propagating lurid conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic – including that it is, in fact, a “plandemic”.

Diamond and Silk, real names Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway and Herneitha Rochelle Hardaway Richardson, describe themselves on their joint Twitter profile as “President Donald J Trump's Most Loyal Supporters”. The two have been associated with the president since 2015, appearing at his rallies both during that campaign and as recently as early March.

Having begun as social media celebrities and vloggers, their growing fanbase on the right and embrace of then-candidate Mr Trump soon saw them regularly appearing on Fox News and hosting a show of their own on Fox Nation, contributing short videos in which they expounded on their views.

Their apparent ouster from Fox Nation was reported on the Daily Beast, which pointed out that the two have not been seen on Fox News or had a video distributed on Fox Nation for an uncharacteristic length of time.

On hearing the news that the two were disappearing from Fox’s channels, the president tweeted: “But I love Diamond & Silk, and so do millions of people!” The two replied: “We love you more!”

According to the Beast, the final straw that saw them retired from Fox’s outlets appears to have been their simultaneous embrace of several coronavirus conspiracy theories, including that the World Health Organisation has the ability to “turn this virus on and off”, that the virus was potentially man-made by the “deep state”, and that the death toll has been inflated to hurt Mr Trump, with bodies in New York supposedly missing.

Also in the firing line was Bill Gates, with Diamond and Silk refusing to accept any vaccine he was involved in funding on the grounds that it might be cover for a racist genocide.

As Diamond said: “Kudos if you make your vaccines for people and you want to help people, but I have a problem receiving any vaccine from any entity, especially anybody like Bill Gates who pushed for population control. The same thing that Margaret Sanger pushed for.”