by WorldTribune Staff, September 4, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
The 2020 election, which precipitated an unprecedented lawfare campaign against President Donald Trump as well as news media and attorneys involved in contesting the results, has claimed another victim.
Fox News on Thursday announced it has parted ways with longtime host Maria Bartiromo.
Bartiromo’s departure from the network is effective immediately, and Fox also indicated that two shows Bartiromo had hosted would be renamed and have new hosts in the coming days. Fox also named a new host for her “Sunday Morning Futures” show.
Maria Bartiromo
Bartiromo had not appeared on air since Aug. 9.
Related: Peter Navarro, who authored 2020 election irregularities report, sentenced to four months in prison, January 25, 2024
So what was it that led to the departure of Bartiromo, who President Donald Trump described in a Sept. 3 Truth Social post as a “true warrior” and “total professional”?
Multiple media reports say the dispute involved Bartiromo allegedly sharing confidential Fox Business editorial guidance with senior White House officials.
According to those reports, Fox Business executives instructed producers following Trump’s July 16 prime-time address to not report on some of his key allegations involving China and the 2020 election.
Related: ‘Most secure election’? What China could do with 220 million election files and U.S. voting machines, July 19, 2026
In his July 16 address to the nation, Trump said that China had obtained data involving some 220 million U.S. voters and accused Beijing of meddling in the 2020 election with the goal of seeing his defeat.
Trump said China had created an “unprecedented election security nightmare.”
The reported Fox directive instructing on air personalities to avoid Trump’s address came against the backdrop of the network’s costly litigation over its coverage of the disputed 2020 election.
In 2023, Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle its defamation lawsuit. Bartiromo was reportedly among the Fox personalities whose broadcasts figured prominently in the litigation.
According to reports, Bartiromo allegedly took a screenshot of the internal Fox News directive and sent it to White House officials.
Fox executives reportedly discovered what had happened after receiving a call from the White House.
Fox also parted ways with Bartiromo’s executive producer, Patrick Ignozzi.
An attorney representing Bartiromo said reports that Bartiromo had been fired from Fox News were essentially fake news.
“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,” a spokesperson for attorney Bryan Freedman, Bartiromo’s attorney, said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times on Friday.
Suggesting that media outlets and individuals making such claims could be brought to court, Freedman added, “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise.”
