Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo suggested that White House warnings of a possible fall wave of Covid-19 infections are part of a Democratic plot to boost the party’s chances in the November midterms.
Ms Bartiromo, once a respected business correspondent whose Mornings with Maria show is known for platforming conspiracy theorists and false election claims associated with former president Donald Trump, and who was recently revealed to have provided Mr Trump with interview questions in advance before he made an appearance on his show in late 2020, was speaking to a guest on Monday when she suggested a Washington Post report on Biden administration preparations for a possible Covid wave was part of a “midterm variant” of the virus.
“You said, ‘when the Republicans take over’, how about ‘if the Republicans take over,’ because the Washington Post is reporting more Covid on the horizon in fall, as I have been predicting, the midterms variant is on the way,” she said.
Ms Bartiromo was referring to a Post story about administration predictions that new subvariants of Omicron could cause up to 100 million infections and a “potentially significant wave of deaths this fall and winter” because the newly identified subvariants can evade immunity conferred by vaccines and prior infections.
Ms Bartiromo also tweeted her claims of the “midterms” variant.
But the Fox host has suggested previous variants were also part of Democratic plots.
When the Delta variant began spreading last August, she called the development “all quite convenient” with respect to the time remaining before the November 2022 midterms.
“It doesn’t appear the Democrats can win on policy so what are we going to do? Have a lockdown in the summer of 2022 so that we ensure mail-in ballots are flowing from empty parking lots and dead people?” she added.
But Ms Bartiromo isn’t the first prominent Trump booster to suggest Democrats are behind a “midterm variant”.
In November, Texas Representative Ronny Jackson — a medical doctor who once headed the White House Medical Unit — claimed Democrats were fabricating a “midterm election variant”.
“They NEED a reason to push unsolicited nationwide mail-in ballot,” he added.
