Maria Bartiromo Botches Key Fact About WaPo Correction During Trump Interview

When is the worst time to get key facts wrong about a story? When you’re covering another news outlet’s major correction in a news-making interview with a former president.

Fox News Primetime host Maria Bartiromo, who is among several network figures being given a test run in the 7 p.m. hour, twice botched a key fact about a recent Washington Post correction during an interview with former President Donald Trump. As a result, her comments gave the false impression that both of Trump’s highly controversial phone conversations with Georgia election officials have been effectively discredited.

During her Tuesday evening broadcast, Bartiromo pivoted from the Covid pandemic to a new topic and led off with a prepared question about the Post‘s “serious lapse” in journalistic due diligence.

“Let’s talk about the Washington Post and what took place yesterday,” she began. “With the Washington Post being forced to correct what you told the secretary of state of Georgia.”

This claim by Bartiromo is totally wrong.

On Monday, the Post did issue an extensive, embarrassing correction to a story from January, but it involved a phone call between Trump and Georgia elections inspector Frances Watson. In it, the Post initially reported that Trump urged her to “find the fraud,” but that quote, as well as other characterizations of the conversation, relied upon a source that misquoted the then-president.

However, that correction has no bearing on a separate Post bombshell about Trump’s call with George Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, published on January 3rd, which came before the story of the Watson call and that also included the actual audio. In that report, which still stands, Trump issued a veiled threat and repeatedly implored the Georgia secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn the results and Biden’s victory. “There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump insisted numerous times. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”

But in Bartiromo’s muddy characterization, she toggled back and forth and appeared to conflate the claims of the two calls, the upshot of which made both of them sound discredited.

Fox News told Mediaite that Bartiromo would be addressing the error on Fox News Primetime Wednesday night.

“The Washington Post initially accused you of a crime based on fabricating quotes and the rest of the media ran with it,” Bartiromo said, still reading from the TelePrompTer. “The Post correction says this: ‘The recording revealed that it misquoted Trump’s comments based on information provided by a source. He did not tell the investigator to “find the fraud” or say she would be “a national hero” if she did so.’ I know you put out a statement about this story, Mr. President, but tell us what your reaction is that the Washington Post had to correct this fake news that they reported that you told the secretary of state of Georgia to find the fraud and find the votes right before the senate race.”

Trump credited the Post for issuing the correction, but he also did not disentangle Bartiromo’s confusing language and acknowledge that the damning Post reporting about his call to Raffensperger remains solid.

“It was a terrible thing and I will say this. I was very happy that the Washington Post had the courage or whatever you want to call it to at least admit their mistake,” Trump said. “I think probably it came from the people in Georgia that run the election process that frankly it is just absolutely terrible when you look at the things that went on in Georgia. I don’t know that the Washington Post may have been told that. They didn’t hear it because it didn’t exist but they were told something that didn’t exist. It made me sound bad and I think when I heard it, I said that’s ridiculous. I never said that.”

Moments later, Bartiromo called out other news networks for making the same mistake as the Post.

“Well, I don’t understand why the other networks at the time, Mr. President, said that we have confirmed this independently, that he said ‘find the fraud,'” the Fox host said. “I mean, how is it possible that you, I mean, we have now the tape. You said nothing of the sort, find the fraud. This is the quote that they all went with. They said that they verified independently. How is that possible?”

“Actually, when you hear the tape you would say Donald Trump may be the most honest person. It was a beautiful and perfect statement,” Trump insisted.

“I guess they were relying on the statement without hearing what was said,” Trump added before he used Bartiromo’s sloppy questioning about the Watson call as an opportunity to attack the integrity of Raffensperger, who had repeatedly called out the Trump team’s election misinformation. “But they were relying on the statement made by people in Georgia than run the elections. It’s a very terrible thing, a very terrible thing for our country.”

Watch the video above, via Fox News.

UPDATE — 3/17, 8:00 pm ET: On Wednesday night’s program, Bartiromo issued a brief correction during an interview with Ted Cruz.

This story has been updated.