Peter Navarro unloads on Fox over Bartiromo ouster: Don’t think it’s ‘friendly to MAGA’

BS BULLETIN:

Trump senior adviser Peter Navarro tore into Fox News over Maria Bartiromo’s abrupt departure, arguing viewers should stop assuming the network is “friendly to MAGA” or President Trump.
Navarro confirmed that Bartiromo sent him a screenshot of internal Fox Business guidance after management blocked a planned segment about Trump’s July address; Navarro says he passed the information “up the chain.”
Fox says Bartiromo’s departure after 12½ years was a “business decision.” Her attorney disputes reports that she was fired and says evidence supporting her account will eventually emerge.

Peter Navarro isn’t letting Maria Bartiromo’s exit from Fox News go quietly.

Appearing Tuesday night on Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports,” President Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing attacked Fox management and challenged the network’s reputation among Trump supporters.

“The bigger story here is, forget about anybody thinking that Fox is a conservative network that’s friendly to MAGA, that’s friendly to Trump,” Navarro said.

His criticism centered on what happened after Trump delivered a primetime address in July that included claims about the 2020 election and alleged Chinese interference.

Bartiromo had planned to interview Navarro the following morning. According to reporting subsequently confirmed in part by Navarro himself, Fox Business management instructed producers not to promote the speech or conduct segments about the 2020 election. Bartiromo sent Navarro a screenshot of that internal guidance.

Navarro says he then passed it along inside the Trump administration. On Newsmax, Kelly pressed him on exactly where it went. Navarro wouldn’t say.

“Remember, I went to prison, Greg,” Navarro replied while declining to provide details. Navarro served four months in federal prison in 2024 after being convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena.

Navarro also published an op-ed Tuesday laying out his version of the dispute. He claims the screenshot ultimately prompted an angry response from the White House and says Fox subsequently barred him from appearing on the network. Those are Navarro’s assertions; Fox has not publicly confirmed that sequence of events.

During his Newsmax appearance, Navarro invoked former Fox personalities Tucker Carlson and Lou Dobbs as he accused management of pushing out hosts willing to tackle subjects important to Trump and his supporters.

Fox’s public explanation is considerably less dramatic.

The network announced Sept. 3 that Bartiromo was leaving after 12½ years and thanked her for her work. Fox later characterized the separation as a “business decision.”

There is also a significant dispute over how to describe Bartiromo’s exit. Multiple outlets have reported that Fox decided to remove her, with reports linking the internal communication to that decision. But Bartiromo attorney Bryan Freedman has called reports that she was fired “unequivocally false” and says his client has “receipts and witnesses.” The Washington Post says it has not independently corroborated reports that the internal communication caused her departure.

One thing isn’t disputed: Bartiromo is gone, and Navarro is making sure the fight over why she left isn’t going with her.

MY QUICK TAKE:

Nothing says “amicable business decision” quite like lawyers promising receipts while Peter Navarro appears on a competing network to explain why Fox can’t be trusted.