In a major embarrassment to a claimed professional journalist, Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo spend an entire segment of her program interviewing an animal rights activist whom she thought was the incoming CEO of meat processor Smithfield Farms, Yahoo News reports.
Activist Matt Johnson spent the entire segment decrying the practices of the meat processor, pretending to use the interview to promote new ethical practices of the company but in fact advocating for animal rights.
Somehow, neither Bartiromo or her staff realized that Johnson was not actually the incoming CEO of Smithfield, Dennis Organ. Smithfield has been hit with multiple charges of ignoring safety issues as thousands of its employees contracted the coronavirus.
Bartiromo, for her part, claimed that she was “punked,” but it does not understand why neither she nor her staff vetted the guest and confirmed his identity with Smithfield.
A staunch Trump supporter, Bartiromo has been widely criticized for using her news program to openly advocate for debunked conspiracy theories and Trump’s candidacy.