Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday was at times shrill, combative, and aggressive in defending Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his efforts to keep the federal government functioning as a potential shutdown looms.
But on Monday, Fox’s star business reporter admitted that Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz had opened her eyes to the arguments conservatives are making to hold McCarthy accountable for his actions.
She said that after talking to Gaetz on Sunday that her thinking was “evolving.”
As the Tampa Free Press reported on Monday, Bartiromo repeatedly attacked Gaetz during his appearance on her show for refusing to acknowledge “wins” by House Republicans that were allegedly engineered by McCarthy.
These included the committees probing President Joe Biden’s potential corruption, the “weaponization” of the federal government against conservative Americans, and the threat posed by Chinese espionage and renegade business practices.
She also noted that McCarthy was bringing some of the federal government’s funding bills up for individual consideration, instead of voting on all of them as a package.
Gaetz countered that McCarthy had been “fiddling like Nero as Rome burns,” and had moved forward with such issues only because he and other conservatives had held “a political gun” to his head, in the form of a threat to remove him from his post in accordance with the deal McCarthy cut in January to become speaker.
“Setting up a committee is an end unto itself only in Washington, D.C. The American people demand results,” Gaetz told Bartiromo on Sunday.
In the news: Rep. Matt Gaetz Of Florida Says Government Shut Down Won’t Stop Biden Investigation
“They’ve done nothing to actually constrain the Biden government. We can set up committees, and have hearings and yell at people, but at the end of the day, if we still send the check to fund a weaponized government, having a weaponization subcommittee is little relief to the American people.”
On Monday, Bartiromo relented somewhat.
“@RepMattGaetz made a very good argument. My thinking is evolving. I was happy to have him on,” she posted at Gaetz on X (formerly Twitter.)
That came in response to a post by Gaetz, who included the clip of his interview and said Bartiromo “tried to shill for her friend [McCarthy].”
Gaetz, in turn, applauded her.
“When confronted with our argument on government spending, most smart and open-minded people will convert. Welcome aboard, @MariaBartiromo,” Gaetz posted on Monday after her comment.
“Thank you for having me on your program. Tough questions and direct answers will lead us to the truth faster than sophistry. The Plan: • Single Subject Spending Bills • No CR [continuing resolution] • Hold the line.”
He later added, “Our movement against governing by continuing resolution welcomes converts. Thank you, @MariaBartiromo.”
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