Maria Bartiromo Ousted from Fox News After Colluding with Trump White House
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Fox News claims Maria Bartiromo's departure was a business decision, following her reported act of passing an internal memo to the Trump White House that discouraged the network from amplifying baseless election-fraud lies.
Fox News announced Thursday that Maria Bartiromo is no longer with the network, a move that comes after she reportedly forwarded an internal memo to the Trump White House. The memo, which instructed Fox programs not to propagate Donald Trump’s debunked 2020 election-fraud narrative, was circulated to Fox Business producers in July. This guidance aimed to curb the network’s complicity in spreading misinformation and to shield Fox from further costly defamation lawsuits, such as the $750 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and the ongoing Smartmatic case.
A source familiar with the matter indicated that Bartiromo was removed after Fox discovered her collaboration with the Trump administration, a clear breach of journalistic ethics. Fox labeled the firing a “business decision,” emphasizing the need to balance political coverage with the legal and financial fallout of promoting right-wing conspiracy theories. Bartiromo has remained silent, but her attorney Bryan Freedman issued a statement denying she was fired, hinting at possible compensation under her contract.
This episode exposes the ongoing conflict within Fox News between its role as a propaganda arm for Trump and the necessity to avoid legal accountability for spreading dangerous falsehoods. Previous high-profile exits, such as Tucker Carlson in 2023, have shown that Fox is willing to sacrifice even its most loyal Trump supporters when their actions threaten the network’s bottom line. The Murdoch family and CEO Suzanne Scott continue to steer Fox’s editorial direction, prioritizing profit over truth.
Analysts observe that while Fox News routinely echoes Trump’s agenda, it draws the line when financial self-preservation is at stake. The Bartiromo case is a stark warning to staff: violating internal policies to serve political interests will not be tolerated, no matter how prominent the host.