One-Time "Money Honey" Trades Credibility for Trump Fealty; What Happens after January 20?
It's really sad to see how far Maria Bartiromo has fallen, at least as a journalist. Those, like
me, who remember her best as the go-to reporter during the glory days of CNBC in the late 90s and 2000s, when the markets were on a roller coaster.
Since 2013, she has been on Fox Business Network and Sundays on Fox News Channel for "Sunday Morning Futures." FBN, like its sibling, has been a predictably friendly forum for Donald Trump. Anchors like Stuart Varney and Lou Dobbs--like Bartiromo, CNN alumni--foment and generally foam at the mouth over anything 45-related. Bartiromo may be less venal, but she is something worse--an enabler for Trump in exchange for access.
That was on exhibit today, when she was on the receiving end of Trump's first interview since Election Day. It's not the first time she's gone one-on-one with Trump. And one reason for that is she throws softballs Big Orange is only too willing to hit out of the park. Even worse, she is all too willing to buy into the whack-a-doodle conspiracy theories Trump and his diminishing minion of minions are trying to palm off. Lies piled on lies, but Bartiromo either stayed silent or leveled broadsides like these.
“Elections are the reason that our young men and women go on battlefields across the world and in some cases lose their lives. Because they believe that their vote, my vote, matters just as much as your vote. And if that is not true, this is a very serious turning point for America. So, this is no longer about you, President Trump. This is about America.”
Eeew. Really does make your stomach churn. But it might be what she needs to do in order to get Fox back in the good graces of Trump, who's been excoriating the network for taking a break from butt-kissing and urging far-righties to abandon Murdoch World for Newsmax and OANN.
And it may have done the trick. As The Washington Post reported, Trump tweeted four clips today.
More critical coverage of Bartiromo's "interview" can be found at USA Today and CNN ("It was filled with lies"),
Bartiromo may no longer be the "Money Honey" (a term she reportedly trademarked), but she's mindful of her own bottom line and where she works. We'll see how much her stock falls once her biggest fan decamps for Mar-A-Lago on Jan. 20.
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