Lou Dobbs Anchored Shows on CNN, Fox Business for Decades

Host was a major supporter of Donald Trump, who posted praise of the host
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 18, 2024 5:40 PM CDT
Lou Dobbs Anchored Shows on CNN, Fox Business for Decades
Lou Dobbs appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 24.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Lou Dobbs, the longtime political and business commentator who hosted a show for decades on CNN and then Fox Business, has died. He was 78. The death of the Lou Dobbs Tonight anchor was announced on his official X account, Variety reports, which provided no details. "Lou was a fighter till the very end—fighting for what mattered to him the most, God, his family and the country," the post says. "Lou's legacy will forever live on as a patriot and a great American." Dobbs was one of cable news' earliest and biggest supporters of Donald Trump, and the former president praised him in a post Thursday on Truth Social. "He understood the World, and what was 'happening,' better than others," Trump wrote, adding, "He will be greatly missed!"

Born in Texas, Dobbs attended Harvard University and began his TV career as a police and fire reporter in Arizona in 1970. His national career launched in 1980 when CNN did, first hosting a show called Moneyline. He quit the network in 2009, per the Los Angeles Times, and resurfaced on the Fox Business Network after being signed by Roger Ailes. His political views expressed on his show included the false claim that Barack Obama was not born in the US and strong anti-immigrant positions. Dobbs, who endorsed Trump's economic and immigration stances, posted about the former president just hours before he died, per Variety.

Fox Business Network canceled Lou Dobbs Tonight in 2021, a day after voting technology company Smartmatic sued Fox News and Dobbs, in addition to hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. The company argued the defendants conspired to spread false claims that the it helped steal the presidential election from Trump. Mediation avoided a trial. "We'll focus on the American people, their standard of living ... the American nation," Dobbs said of his show in 2011, per the AP. "Those are always my starting points." (More obituary stories.)

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