I believe it was my last year of elementary school, fifth grade, when I learned about the stock market. I was amazed at how quickly money could be lost and gained in a matter of seconds. How the more intricate knowledge one had about a company, the better chance they had to profit off that company's performance.
After some research, I learned that a holder of a vast amount of knowledge on the economy and the markets was only a click away on my TV dial.
The Consumer News and Business Channel, CNBC. First in business worldwide. The flashy graphics, countless tickers and energizing music, made watching the markets captivating, addicting and exciting.
At the center of this network, was the whip smart, no nonsense, Maria Bartiromo. Maria guided me and her viewers through, “the final and most important hour of the trading day.” Maria made sense of all the latest twists and turns in the global economy from the dot-com bubble to the great recession.
Maria was always pro-business, but she pushed her guests to share the best and most accurate information for her viewers. Maria interviewed the biggest CEOs and politicians from both sides of the aisle and around the world. She gave no one a pass and was a straight shooter with an excellent B.S. meter.
Then, in November 2013, Maria rocked the world of cable news when she announced that she would be leaving her home of 20 years, CNBC, for its chief rival, Fox Business.
Why would Maria leave the network that made her famous to join a channel with less than a third of the audience?
The past four years have helped clarify the answer to this question. Maria has abandoned the facts and reality on planet Earth for an alternate universe where President Trump is the Sun God and whatever he says is gospel.
On her daily three-hour Fox Business broadcast and her one-hour Sunday morning show, Maria has worked with President Trump and the Republican Party to undermine American democracy and promote farfetched conspiracy theories that have left her former viewers stunned and confused.
The genesis of Maria’s infatuation with President Trump seems to date back to the insane belief that President Obama instructed his Intelligence Agencies to take down candidate Trump and prevent him from becoming president.
In June 2019, President Trump said that he would welcome information from foreign intelligence to use against his 2020 opponents and disputed the fact that a foreign government providing him with information on his political opponent was election interference.
"It's not an interference, they have information -- I think I'd take it," President Trump said.
Maria defended President Trump’s solicitation of dirt on his 2020 opponents by falsely claiming that candidate Trump was wiretapped by the Obama Administration.
“It’s just extraordinary that the mainstream media can... completely ignore with this cabal of people did in early months of 2016 in terms of informants, listening in, wire-tapping Donald Trump and getting international intel sources involved…It’s just a complete white-wash,” Maria declared on her broadcast in June of 2019.
Of course, a 434-page report by Trump’s own Justice Department found no evidence that the FBI tried to place agents or informants inside Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Furthermore, in a 178-page court filing, Trump’s Justice Department said it found no evidence that Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Maria has also defended President Trump regarding questions about his personal character.
In November 2017, when discussing the sexual harassment allegations against former Democratic Senator Al Franken, Maria went out of her way to note, “There are no allegations against the president.”
Yet, as anyone who follows Trump knows, he has been accused by at least 26 women of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault and rape.
In what might be the most galling example of Maria’s willingness to defend President Trump, she tweeted her support for him following Trump’s defense of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Possibly causing the greatest damage to America, Maria has repeatedly given a platform to President Trump and his supporters to push false conspiracy theories about Joe Biden’s health and non-existent voter fraud.
Despite President Trump’s Attorney General making clear the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud, Maria has repeatedly given a platform to people who insist widespread voter fraud exists.
Maria’s fawning coverage of the Sun God has not gone unnoticed by the deity himself. In January 2020, following an exclusive interview with Maria, President Trump tweeted, “Great working with you Maria!”
Wait, what? America’s preeminent business journalist is now “working with” possibly the most lawless President in American history.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise, that President Trump made his first television appearance since losing reelection on Maria’s Sunday morning program. Over the course of 45 minutes, President Trump denied losing the election and promoted false claims of voter fraud with zero pushback from Maria.
What has happened to Maria is terribly disappointing and disheartening for former admirers of hers.
After watching Maria for years on CNBC, I convinced my mother to take me down to Wall Street and meet Maria when she was broadcasting her show from the steps of Federal Hall across from the New York Stock Exchange. I was in awe of Maria’s accomplishments and captivated by her knowledge and universal respect.
I now sadly wonder what happened to her? How did such a seemingly intelligent and sophisticated woman fall under Trump’s spell? Can she really believe the nonsense she is spewing? What could possibly be the reason Maria has decided to throw all her sensibility out the window and embrace a racist, cheater and liar who is at least $420 million in debt?
In time, President Trump will surely be punished for his reckless and lawless behavior. Very few Republicans are still championing Richard Nixon. Unfortunately, Maria is likely to face no such consequence for her actions. When the GOP comes to their senses and decides to denounce Trump in the strongest possible terms, Maria will pretend she never backed Trump and held him to account in real time. However, we will know this is not true because we have the tapes.
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