The Fox Business host’s ouster was announced by Fox News Media in a brief statement, but reports followed that she was pink-slipped for leaking a confidential company memo to the White House. That note had instructed producers not to lend credence to an election conspiracy theory spouted by Trump in July. Bartiromo reportedly had pushed to do a story on it.

Said Lemire: “It’s also striking, again, just how Trump has hijacked so much of the conservative media ecosphere where .. her instinct here when she gets this directive from her bosses is ... to go to Trump.”

Sharing the confidential corporate note with the Trump White House to let them know “I can’t talk about this anymore because my bosses are saying no” is “really remarkable all round,” Lemire continued.

Bartiromo had been absent from her three shows since early August before she was taken off the air after 12 years. Employees were reportedly told not to contact her weeks before the announcement of her ouster.

He also said that rumors Trump was considering her for a White House job, perhaps as a replacement for departed press secretary Karoline Leavitt, are in a way revived. “President Trump is a real fan,” Lemire said. “So maybe that wasn’t in the works. But maybe now that she is available, that could change.”