Ever the right-wing crank, Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday found a way to connect the release of a toddler hostage to alleged Biden family corruption.
According to the conspiracy theory-minded host, Hamas may have prioritized the release of four-year-old American hostage Abigail Mor Edan because her family once bought Hunter Biden’s artwork.
The MAGA host, whose ranting and ravings have already helped cost her network hundreds of millions of dollars, also suggested the hostage releases during the Israel-Hamas ceasefire are tied to the millions of dollars of bribes that Republicans have accused President Joe Biden of accepting.
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Speaking with House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), co-leader of the GOP’s Biden impeachment inquiry, Bartiromo wondered what is “the most damning piece of evidence” he has gathered to show “potential bribery on the part of Joe Biden.” (Months into their probe, House Republicans have yet to show any hard proof linking the president to foreign influence peddling through his family’s business dealings.)
After Smith cycled through the standard GOP talking points about Burisma and loan repayments from the president’s brother, Bartiromo then turned her attention to Edan, the first American freed as part of the hostage exchange.
“Look, we’ve been trying to dig in on specific decisions that Joe Biden made, as vice president, which perhaps he could’ve gotten paid for,” the Fox star said. “I mean, we spoke to [South Carolina Rep.] Nancy Mace earlier and she says it’s north of $50 million which his family has taken in—what were they being paid for?”
She continued: “And you know, there’s an awful story around the hostage release in Israel. Abigail Mor Edan, one of the many young children released by Hamas over the last three days, [was] the first American toddler released on Sunday. She has dual citizenship, American-Israeli.”
Adding that Edan’s story is a “travesty” as she’s now an orphan after Hamas militants killed her parents, Bartiromo expressed relief that the young girl had been released.
At the same time, however, the conspiracy-peddling host wondered if Edan had been given preferential treatment due to her family’s Biden ties.
“Thank god she has been released, but we also learned that her family is major donors to President Biden,” Bartiromo dramatically exclaimed. “And that her aunt actually bought Hunter Biden’s art! I mean, of course we want Abigail to get released and to be home with her family and that we’re all praying and thanking god for. But, why was she the first one? Because she had this connection to Biden?!”
Bartiromo was referring to Los Angeles real-estate investor and philanthropist Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, Edan’s great-aunt who has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Biden campaign and has bought pieces of Hunter Biden’s art. Naftali was also named by the president to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
Business Insider reported this summer on Naftali’s purchase of some of the first son’s paintings, though it’s unknown how much she paid or when she bought the art.
Far-right media has attempted to link Naftali’s Biden connections to the release of her grandniece. Prior to Bartiromo’s segment on Wednesday morning, Breitbart wondered if the release of Edan “suggests that her connections to the White House may have motivated the Biden administration to lobby Hamas to prioritize her release over other American hostages.”
