Editing Lou Dobbs (section)

{{Short description|American television host (1945–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lou Dobbs
| image              = Lou Dobbs by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| caption            = Dobbs at [[Conservative Political Action Conference|CPAC]] in 2015
| birth_name         = Louis Carl Dobbs
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1945|9|24}}
| birth_place        = [[Childress, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2024|7|18|1945|9|24}}
| death_place        = [[West Palm Beach, Florida]], U.S.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
| spouse             = Debi Lee Roth-Segura
| occupation         = {{hlist|Talk radio host|managing editor|former news anchor}}
| party              = {{plainlist|
* [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (until 2001)
* [[Independent politician|Independent]] (2001–2024)
}}
| children           = 4
| website            = {{URL|https://loudobbs.com/}}
| education          = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
}}

'''Louis Carl Dobbs''' (September 24, 1945 – July 18, 2024) was an American conservative<ref>"Lou Dobbs." ''Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors'', Gale, 2018. ''Gale in Context: Biography''</ref> political commentator, author, and television host who presented ''[[Lou Dobbs Tonight|Moneyline]]'' (later ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'') from 1980 to 2009 and 2011 to 2021. From 2021 until his death, he hosted ''The Great America Show'' on [[iHeartRadio]] and loudobbs.com.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Petrizzo|first1=Zachary|date=February 2, 2022|title=Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs Get Together and Grumble About Fox News |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-oreilly-and-lou-dobbs-get-together-and-grumble-about-fox-news |access-date=February 5, 2021}}</ref>

Dobbs started working with [[CNN]] at its inception in 1980, serving as a reporter and network vice president. On the air, he served as host and [[managing editor]] of the network's business program, ''Moneyline'', which premiered in 1980. The show was renamed ''[[Lou Dobbs Tonight]]'' in 2003. Dobbs resigned from CNN in 1999 but rejoined the network in 2001. He resigned once again in November 2009. He was the former talk radio host of ''Lou Dobbs Radio''. From 2011, he hosted ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' on the [[Fox Business|Fox Business Network]] until the network cancelled it in February 2021.<ref name='latimes'>{{Cite web |date=February 5, 2021 |title=Fox News cancels Lou Dobbs' show; pro-Trump host not expected to be back on air |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-05/fox-news-cancels-lou-dobbs-tonight |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206003100/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-02-05/fox-news-cancels-lou-dobbs-tonight |archive-date=February 6, 2021 |access-date=February 5, 2021 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name='cnn'>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/media/lou-dobbs-fox-show-canceled/index.html |title=Fox Business suddenly cancels 'Lou Dobbs Tonight,' its highest-rated show|first=Brian|last=Stelter|date=February 5, 2021|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=February 6, 2021|archive-date=February 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206005105/https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/media/lou-dobbs-fox-show-canceled/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dobbs was an early promoter of [[birtherism]], the unfounded accusation that former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Barack Obama]] is not a [[Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born U.S. citizen]]. He was known for anti-illegal immigration views,<ref name=":18" /><ref name=guardian /><ref name=latimes2 /> as well as for opposition to [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]] and other trade deals. A staunch supporter of [[Donald Trump]], he infused his show with pro-Trump coverage.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/05/trump-policy-whisperer-lou-dobbs-unloads-on-radical-dimms-in-unhinged-opening-monologue|title=Trump 'Policy Whisperer' Lou Dobbs Unloads on 'Radical Dimms' in Unhinged Opening Monologue|last=Durkee|first=Alison|website=The Hive |date=May 3, 2019 |language=en |access-date=May 3, 2019|archive-date=December 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214015440/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/05/trump-policy-whisperer-lou-dobbs-unloads-on-radical-dimms-in-unhinged-opening-monologue|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hardline-views-made-lou-dobbs-a-fox-powerhouse-now-hes-shaping-trumps-border-policy/2019/04/26/cb8ebd6c-5fa4-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html |title=Hard-line views made Lou Dobbs a Fox powerhouse. Now he's shaping Trump's border policy |last1=Roig-Franzia |first1=Manuel |last2=Costa |first2=Robert |date=April 27, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en |access-date=May 3, 2019 |archive-date=August 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819023856/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/hardline-views-made-lou-dobbs-a-fox-powerhouse-now-hes-shaping-trumps-border-policy/2019/04/26/cb8ebd6c-5fa4-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a27112228/donald-trump-poll-fox-news-lou-dobbs/ |title=The Trump-Fox Symbiosis of Stupid Continues With an Extremely Wrong Poll |last=Holmes |first=Jack |date=April 11, 2019 |website=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|language=en-US|access-date=May 3, 2019|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009001936/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a27112228/donald-trump-poll-fox-news-lou-dobbs/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house|title=The Making of the Fox News White House|last=Mayer|first=Jane|magazine=The New Yorker|date=March 4, 2019|access-date=May 3, 2019|language=en|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=December 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211045411/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/11/the-making-of-the-fox-news-white-house|url-status=live}}</ref> He was one of three [[Fox Corporation]] program hosts named in a $2.7 billion [[defamation]] lawsuit by [[Smartmatic#2020 presidential election and defamation lawsuits|Smartmatic]] relating to conspiracy theories used in [[attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election]].<ref name='reuters'>{{cite news |last1=Stempel |first1=Jonathan |title=Smartmatic can pursue election-rigging claims against Fox News, Giuliani |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/smartmatic-can-pursue-election-rigging-claims-against-fox-news-giuliani-2022-03-08/ |publisher=Reuters |date=March 8, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stempel |first1=Jonathan |title=Fox News must face Smartmatic's lawsuit over election-rigging claims |newspaper=Reuters |date=February 14, 2023 |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/fox-news-must-face-smartmatics-lawsuit-over-election-rigging-claims-2023-02-14/}}</ref><ref name='cnn2'>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/media/smartmatic-fox-news-giuliani-powell-lawsuit/index.html |title=Voting technology company Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell over 'disinformation campaign' |last=Darcy |first=Oliver |date=February 4, 2021 |website=[[CNN]]|access-date=February 5, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204230219/https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/media/smartmatic-fox-news-giuliani-powell-lawsuit/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Grynbaum|first=Michael M.|date=February 6, 2021|title=Lawsuits Take the Lead in Fight Against Disinformation|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/business/media/conservative-media-defamation-lawsuits.html|access-date=February 6, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214024835/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/business/media/conservative-media-defamation-lawsuits.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dobbs was among the hosts named in the ''[[Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network]]'' defamation lawsuit for broadcasting [[False statements of fact|false statements]] about the [[Dominion Voting Systems|plaintiff company's]] [[voting machine]]s that [[Fox News]] settled for $787.5 million and required Fox News to acknowledge that the broadcast statements were false.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 4, 2021 |title=Fox News and three hosts sued for $2.7 billion by voting machine company over election-fraud claims |work=[[USA Today]] |publisher= |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/02/04/fox-news-three-hosts-trump-lawyers-sued-over-election-fraud-claims/4392023001/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110172220/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/02/04/fox-news-three-hosts-trump-lawyers-sued-over-election-fraud-claims/4392023001/ |archive-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Folkenflik|first1=David|last2=Yang|first2=Mary|date=April 18, 2023|title=Fox News settles blockbuster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems|publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/2023/04/18/1170339114/fox-news-settles-blockbuster-defamation-lawsuit-with-dominion-voting-systems|access-date=January 23, 2024}}</ref><ref name="davis-sj">{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Eric |title=Summary Judgment |url=https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23736885/dominion-v-fox-summary-judgment.pdf |publisher=Superior Court of the State of Delaware |date=March 31, 2023 |access-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331225942/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23736885/dominion-v-fox-summary-judgment.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>