Fact Check

Reporter Displays Trump/Pence Sticker at Al Smith Dinner

An image of reporter Maria Bartiromo holding a phone decorated with a "Trump/Pence" sticker at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is fake.

Published Oct. 21, 2016

Claim:
An image shows Maria Bartiromo holding a phone decorated with a "Trump/Pence" sticker at the annual Al Smith Dinner.

As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded jokes, barbs, and joke-shaped barbs at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on 20 October 2016, some viewers were focused on a "woman in red" sitting behind the podium. Twitter user "Deplorable Hershe" attempted to capitalize on the woman's social media attention and posted a photograph purportedly showing her holding a phone emblazoned with the "Trump/Pence" campaign logo:

trump phone

This image is a digitally created hoax.

The "woman in red" seen in this picture is Fox Business reporter Maria Bartiromo, who can be glimpsed holding her cell phone (without the "Trump Pence" logo) near the 8:50 mark of video from the Al Smith Dinner, a screenshot of which is provided below:

Trump supporter

Bartiromo has not commented on her Photoshopped picture, but she did comment on the social media attention she received following the Al Smith dinner:

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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