Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo thought she was talking to Smithfield’s chief executive officer Dennis Organ but it was actually Matt Johnson of Direct Action Everywhere, an activist organization opposed to animal farming.
The interview is now on Youtube showing the six-minute interview during which Organ (in reality Johnson) said he wants to offer “transparency and, at times, brutal honesty” and blamed animal agriculture for the appearance of new infectious diseases.
Howard “AV” Roth, president of the National Pork Producers Council, was not amused and said “taking advantage of this black swan event to drive an anti-meat, anti-livestock agriculture agenda is reprehensible.
“These radical extremist groups who typically work shrouded in secrecy and false identities – frequently while breaking the law – are only able to propagate their false narrative by hoodwinking journalists and posing as credible sources.”
Roth defended his organization’s members and pork industry workers who “remain dedicated to keeping Americans and consumers around the world supplied with affordable, nutritious protein.”
