Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was promised an “easy” interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo if she appeared, according to a story from Hollywood Reporter staffer Jeremy Barr.
Barr reports, “So much so that one Fox News producer sought to reassure Devos’ press secretary that host Maria Bartiromo would go easy on the Secretary if she sat for an interview, which she did six days later.
“On Nov. 21, 2018, the producer wrote: ‘Ps remember any question she doesn’t feel comfortable answering — she can choose to not answer and pivot the topic — and Maria is seasoned enough to understand and move on. … So no worries on that front. This will be an easy interview and enjoyable.’ (The producer is no longer with the company.)
“‘This should be totally fine,’ the press secretary responded. (Media Matters for America, an anti-Fox News advocacy group, would describe the Bartiromo—DeVos chat as a ‘softball interview.’)
“That exchange was among dozens of email conversations that reflect the symbiotic relationship between the news network and staffers working in the Trump administration. For this story, The Hollywood Reporter reviewed more than 1,000 pages containing emails between Fox employees and aides at the Departments of Homeland Security, Education and Agriculture, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Democracy Forward.”
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