Bartiromo believed she was interviewing Dennis Organ, the president and CEO of Smithfield Foods, the self-proclaimed largest pork producer in the world. She had even interviewed Matt Johnson, press coordinator for the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere. For six minutes.
The shyness isn’t the first time Bartiromo has made headlines for her shocking behavior on her show. Wednesday’s incident follows multiple segments of Bartiromo’s show over the past few weeks, reinforcing conspiracy theories about the election without any backlash.
Bartiromo’s repeated mistakes and false information suggests a lack of editorial standards and basic fact-checking. A quick internet search for Smithfield’s CEO points to the company’s official leadership site, including a photo of Organ – which looks nothing like Johnson (organ is a balding redhead; Johnson, well, not.)
In response to a request for comment, a Fox News spokeswoman pointed to Bartiromo’s on-air correction, where she pledged more vigilance.
“Fox Business aired a segment that was a complete hoax,” Keira Lombardo, Smithfield Foods Chief Administrative Officer, said in a statement. “A simple Google search for a photo of our CEO would have prevented this. This allowed false information to be broadcast, and Fox has apologized for this complete decline.”
A crazy pretend interview
Wednesday’s interview started innocently enough. Bartiromo asked her guest about a Covid-19 outbreak at a Smithfield Foods plant in South Dakota and the company’s plans for vaccine distribution. Johnson (posing as an organ) replied as a CEO would, with big comments and platitudes about the company’s “dedicated and resilient” workforce, “courageous” employees, and its commitment to providing employees with “comprehensive personal protective equipment.” Nothing to see here. Yet.
But two minutes after the interview, things took a turn.
“As the new CEO and President of Smithfield, I personally pledge that we will do better, and the first change under my leadership will be transparency and sometimes brutal honesty.”
Johnson went on to say the food industry could be contributing to the next pandemic, arguing that farms are “petri dishes” for infectious diseases. Grinning, pausing, “umming” and “you know” during the extended interview, Johnson did enough to point out to Bartiromo and her staff that he was not who he claimed to be.
At the end of her show, Bartiromo issued a correction.
“We would like to apologize to Dennis Organ, Smithfield Foods and our public for making this mistake,” she said. “We will be more vigilant, of course.”
A history of misinformation
On Nov. 29, Bartiromo gave President Donald Trump his first TV interview since the election, and the conversation was riddled with lies and conspiracy theories that went unchecked. Bartiromo opened the interview and said, “The facts are on your side.” After the president falsely stated that election fraud had taken place, Bartiromo said, “This is disgusting and we cannot allow the US election to be corrupted.”
Last week, Bartiromo said that “an information source” tells me that President Trump did indeed win the election, “although Fox called the election for Biden. Election officials, the US Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have said there is no widespread electoral fraud .
She also often amplified conspiracy theories and false information rife on Fox News about alleged anomalies in the voting machine – including that software was used to manipulate elections and that there was a direct connection between the companies that make voting machines in America and the liberal philanthropic billionaire. George Soros. Fox programs hosted by Bartiromo, as well as hosts Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs, later released a news package debunking these allegations after voice technology company Smartmatic sent Fox News a legal threat accusing the network of participating in a “disinformation campaign” against it.
