NEW YORK, N.Y. – Maria Bartiromo, one of the most recognizable faces in financial television, is out at Fox News Media after more than a dozen years, immediately setting off speculation about where she could land next.
One theory racing across social media puts Bartiromo in the White House press briefing room following Karoline Leavitt’s departure as press secretary. For now, that’s speculation — neither the White House nor Bartiromo has announced such an appointment, and Vice President JD Vance said he did not know when asked about the possibility.
The gritty Brooklyn-born newscaster could be next in line at the White House.
- Fox News Media announced Sept. 3 that Bartiromo was “no longer with” the company after 12½ years, although her attorney has disputed reports that she was fired.
- Online speculation has linked Bartiromo to the vacant White House press secretary job, but no appointment has been announced.
- Long before her years at Fox, Bartiromo became a Wall Street television celebrity big enough to inspire Joey Ramone to write a song about her.
Fox Says Bartiromo Is Gone, but Her Lawyer Disputes How It Happened
Fox News Media made its announcement unusually brief.
“Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” the company said Thursday.
“We thank Maria for her work over the last 12 ½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”
The network immediately began moving on from the programs bearing her name. Mornings with Maria became Mornings with FOX Business, while Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street was renamed FBN’s Wall Street.
Former congressman Jason Chaffetz was tapped to temporarily take over Sunday Morning Futures while Fox searches for a permanent host.
There is, however, a wrinkle in the story.
Bartiromo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has challenged reports characterizing the split as a firing and said claims that she is no longer employed by Fox are “absolutely and unequivocally false.”
Fox has stood by its announcement.
That leaves the exact circumstances of Bartiromo’s departure murky even as her television shows move forward without her.
Is Maria Bartiromo Headed to the White House?
That’s the question now generating attention well beyond the world of cable television.
Bartiromo has been a prominent Trump supporter and frequent interviewer of the president and members of his administration. Trump himself publicly praised her following the Fox announcement.
But a relationship with Trump isn’t the same thing as a White House appointment.
There has been no announcement from the administration naming Bartiromo as Leavitt’s successor, and Bartiromo has not publicly said she is taking the job.
Vance was asked directly about the speculation and said he didn’t know whether Bartiromo was under consideration.
So, at least for now, the intriguing part of the story is the timing: a high-profile television personality with strong ties to Trump suddenly becomes available just as one of the most visible communications jobs in Washington needs to be filled.
Whether those two developments actually connect remains to be seen.
Bartiromo Was a Wall Street Star Long Before Fox News
Bartiromo’s career didn’t begin in political television.
She started behind the scenes at CNN before moving to CNBC in 1993. It was there that she became one of the best-known financial journalists in America.
In 1995, Bartiromo became the first journalist to regularly broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
That was a much bigger deal than it might sound today.
Business television was still finding its audience, and the NYSE floor was a chaotic world of traders, paper and shouting. Bartiromo brought viewers directly into it each morning.
She eventually hosted CNBC programs including Closing Bell and On the Money and became so closely associated with Wall Street coverage that she earned the nickname “Money Honey.”
After roughly two decades at CNBC, she jumped to Fox Business in 2014.
There, her role gradually stretched beyond markets and corporate America. She hosted Mornings with Maria, Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street and Sunday Morning Futures, where politics became an increasingly important part of her television identity.
Her interviews over the years included presidents, cabinet officials, corporate CEOs and some of the most powerful figures on Wall Street.
Then Joey Ramone Wrote a Song About Her
There aren’t many financial journalists who have had a punk-rock legend write a song about them.
Bartiromo is one.
Joey Ramone, the Queens-born frontman of the Ramones, became friendly with Bartiromo after the band broke up in the 1990s.
He apparently watched her financial reporting, too.
Ramone wrote a song simply titled “Maria Bartiromo,” an affectionate and slightly surreal tribute to the CNBC anchor and the financial news she delivered.
The song appeared on Don’t Worry About Me, Ramone’s solo album released posthumously in 2002 following his death the previous year.
It remains one of the stranger intersections of Wall Street and New York punk history: the voice behind “Blitzkrieg Bop” singing about a television financial reporter.
For Bartiromo, it was also a measure of how far her fame had traveled outside financial journalism.
She had become a pop-culture figure.
What Comes After Fox?
That’s now the unanswered question.
Fox has removed Bartiromo from the shows she made famous at the network and is reshaping its lineup without her. Her attorney, meanwhile, disputes the public characterization of her employment status.
And then there’s Washington.
A move from television to government would hardly be unprecedented, particularly in the Trump orbit. But until Bartiromo or the White House confirms something, reports that she will become the next press secretary should be treated as speculation rather than a done deal.
After more than three decades on television, however, Bartiromo suddenly has something she hasn’t had very often during her career: uncertainty about what comes next.
Fox News says Maria Bartiromo is no longer with the network.
Fox announced the split Sept. 3 and immediately began rebranding her programs, although Bartiromo’s attorney has disputed reports about her employment status.
There is no confirmation Bartiromo will become White House press secretary.
Her name has surfaced amid online speculation, but neither Bartiromo nor the White House has announced that she will replace Karoline Leavitt.
Joey Ramone really did write a song called “Maria Bartiromo.”
The Ramones frontman became friendly with Bartiromo and wrote the song that later appeared on his posthumous 2002 solo album, Don’t Worry About Me.
Sources: Fox News Media; Associated Press; Maria Bartiromo official biography; Joey Ramone Archives, The Ramones, Don’t Worry About Me; public remarks by Vice President JD Vance
