Maria Bartiromo in 2015 (Jacqueline Zaccor, LinkedIneditors/Flickr)
President Donald Trump's MAGA die-hards are not taking the ouster of Fox News host Maria Bartiromo quietly, with a new report from The Daily Beast highlighting a brewing "revolt" against her replacement.
Bartiromo, best known as a longtime host for the Fox Business channel, was abruptly fired this week after roughly 12 years with the company, with the official statement only wishing her the best in her future endeavors. A report from Status later elaborated on the shocking departure, finding that she had allegedly been let go after disclosing the network's quiet instructions not to promote Trump's election conspiracy theories with the White House.
"Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media," the official statement read. "In making the announcement, FOX News Media said, 'We thank Maria for her work over the last 12 and a half years and wish her all the best in her next chapter."
Fox has since replaced Bartiromo on the program, Sunday Morning Futures, which she had hosted since 2014, with contributor and former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz. As The Daily Beast reported on Sunday, however, the move has not gone down well at all,
“Wrong. That chair belongs to Maria Bartiromo,” MAGA influencer Gunther Eagleman, real name is David Freeman, posted to X, responding to a clip of Chaffetz introducing himself to viewers. “Fox can put whoever they want on the desk. America still knows who built that show and who owned Sunday mornings. Bring Maria back."
“Sunday mornings just aren’t the same without her. Maria belongs on Sunday Morning Futures...” another user posted.
Some users went further, claiming that they would be dumping the network completely in favor of its competitors.
“I used to watch every Sunday morning. Not today, I went to Newsmax. No more FOX for me," one user highlighted by The Daily Beast wrote.
Others expressed frustration at Chaffetz in particular, accusing him of being insufficiently Trump-aligned.
“And they selected that swamp rat. Probably Paul Ryan’s selection,” one X user wrote.
Amidst this situation, Bartiromo and her legal team have insisted that she was not actually let go and vowed to bring forward proof of their claims.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses, and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise.”