Fox's Maria Bartiromo 'losing a lot of respect' from former colleagues after transforming into a Trump toady
Maria Bartiromo appears on Fox News (screen grab)

Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo was once one of the most respected journalists on television back when she covered the stock market for CNBC.

In recent years, however, she's transformed into one of President Donald Trump's fiercest defenders and has drawn significant criticism for her coverage of fact-free conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.

In a profile of Bartiromo written by the Los Angeles Times, former CNBC anchor Ted David explained that many of her former colleagues are stunned at what she's become.

"There is a lot of eye-rolling," he said of reactions to her metamorphosis into a Trump toady. "Maria was always considered to be a principled professional. She's losing a lot of respect from her fellow journalists."

Bartiromo, however, tells the LA Times that she's just covering what the president is saying, even though his legal team has presented no evidence in court to back it up in the process of losing 59 different election-related lawsuits.

"This is the sitting president of the United States, and his attorneys, which up until recently included Powell, have a right for their side to be heard and state their case," she said. "Viewers want to hear from all sides of this story. Since day one, my focus has been to peel back the onion on this."