Fox Business host Trish Regan on hiatus after coronavirus comments

The Fox Business show hosted by Trish Regan is going on hiatus after controversial comments she made on the air Monday about the coronavirus.

The hiatus also applies to another host, Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery, who has her own program on the Fox Corp.-owned network. That move was related to staffing needs.

“Fox Business’ prime-time programs ‘Trish Regan Primetime’ and ‘Kennedy’ will both be on hiatus until further notice,” Fox wrote in a statement. “Due to the demands of the evolving pandemic crisis coverage, we are deploying all resources from both shows for staffing needs during critical market hours. Fox Business will run long form programming in prime time for the foreseeable future.”

Regan, the host of “Trish Regan Primetime,” said Democrats and the “liberal media” were using the coronavirus to “destroy the president.” She blamed the stock market declines on Donald Trump’s rivals, calling it “another attempt to impeach the president.” While she spoke, the headline “Coronavirus Impeachment Scam” appeared next to her.

Her hourlong program airs weekdays staring at 8 p.m. EST. “Objectified,” a prerecorded interview show, will run in its place.

Regan is a former Bloomberg Television host. She joined Fox in 2015. Bloomberg and Fox Business are competitors in the market for business cable-TV news.

Fox News also announced it was hiring Dr. Martin Makary, a Johns Hopkins health policy expert and surgeon, as a paid contributor, beginning Saturday on “Fox and Friends Weekend.”

He is expected to “offer medical and public health analysis” on Fox News.

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.