And just like that, Maria Bartiromo is out at Fox News, effective immediately.
“We thank Maria for her work over the last twelve and a half years and wish her all the best on her next chapter,” the company said in a statement on Thursday, Sept. 3. No clear reason was given for her departure.
It's not quite the media earthquake that the network's sudden firing of Tucker Carlson
in 2023 was, but it's close.In both cases, these are formerly legitimate journalists who had become nothing more than mouthpieces for the Trump administration, and the subject of possible liability for the network as well. (If anything, Carlson has gotten even weirder since his departure.)
Bartiromo's career decline is one of the weirder slides in journalism
And it brings to a close, at least for now, one of the weirder career slides in journalism.
Bartiromo was a respected business journalist at CNBC, and popular, too — Joey Ramone once wrote a song about her. Her arrival at Fox News and Fox Business Network was a big deal, an important hire. But she became increasingly conspiracy-minded over the years, particularly when it came to the 2020 election.
In 2023, when Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, emails and texts came to light that made it clear some of the network's personalities, like Carlson, didn't believe Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. They were just worried about losing ultra-conservative MAGA viewers, and programmed their shows and their views accordingly.
Bartiromo, not so much. She seemed to be a true believer. Consider, for instance, this text to Trump henchman Steve Bannon after the 2020 election: "I want to see massive fraud exposed. Will (Trump) be able to turn this around. I told my team we’re not allowed to say pres elect. Not in scripts. Not in banners on air. Until this moves through the courts." There's opinion journalism, and then there are crackpot theories that get in the way of legitimacy. This was the latter.
Her bizarre claims seemed to trouble others at the network, and given the outcome of the defamation suit, with good reason. Yet somehow she remained at the network for more than six years afterwards.
What's next for Maria Bartiromo?
Starting Friday, "Mornings with Maria" will become "Mornings with Fox Business," with rotating anchors. "Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street" will become "FBN's Wall Street," with Cheryl Casone and a group of rotating anchors. "Sunday Morning Futures," Bartiromo's Sunday morning show that was often a place for her to conduct cozy interviews with Trump, will be hosted by Jason Chaffetz, with a new host to be named later.
Bartiromo had been off the air since early August. Where she goes from here is unclear. Trump is in the market for a White House press secretary after the departure of Karoline Leavitt. She certainly has the credentials, which, like all jobs in the Trump White House, consist of one overarching qualification: loyalty to Trump. Or she could start her own media company, like Carlson.
Whatever her next move, like so many in MAGA land, her future will be defined at least in part by her past, in which she promoted lies and wild conspiracy theories. Outside of the MAGA media bubble, it's hard to come back from that.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maria Bartiromo Fox News departure was sudden and inevitable | Opinion
