What's Lou Dobbs' media legacy? The news anchor traded truth for Trump

What happened to Lou Dobbs?

It's a question worth asking in the wake of his death Thursday, at 78. Dobbs, whose death was announced by Donald Trump on Trump's Truth Social network, ("The Great Lou Dobbs"), took a curious path from respected reporter to what might generously be called a fabulist though conspiracy theorist works, as well. Dobbs was not influential in the way that Rush Limbaugh was, and not nearly as destructive. But he was an interesting footnote to aberrant human behavior.

Dobbs was one of the original CNN reporters when the network revolutionized TV news in 1980. He hosted "Moneyline," a popular business show, which eventually became "Lou Dobbs Tonight" in 2003. He left the network in 1999 to start Space.com but returned in 2001. He quit again, this time for good, in 2009. He joined Fox Business in 2009.

A personal note: I met and interviewed Dobbs a few times in the early 2000s. He never seemed radical; the thing I remember most about these interactions was his insistence that, as an Emmy voter, he watched every episode of every show provided, entertainment and otherwise.

But something happened along the way.

Dobbs amplified the racist 'birther' claims against Obama

Dobbs was early to jump on the "birther" bandwagon, the racist claim that Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen. Espousing it was one of the ways Trump got his political start, and he found a sympathetic ear in Dobbs. Eventually, Dobbs would become much more than that, a blatant Trump apologist whose lies about the 2020 election were in large part what hastened his exit from Fox News.

A noted anti-immigration firebrand, Dobbs once boosted reporting from one of his correspondents that falsely claimed illegal immigrants had brought 7,000 cases of leprosy to the U.S.

All of this came at a cost, and not just to Dobbs' reputation and career.

Fox Business canceled 'Lou Dobbs Tonight' after a lawsuit

Fox Business Network canceled Dobbs' show, "Lou Dobbs Tonight," in February 2021, the day after Smartmatic, a voting software company, filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News, as well as Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. Dobbs and Fox News settled with Smartmatic in 2023. Other aspects of the suit continue.

Bartiromo, whose career has taken a similar hard-right swerve, is still with Fox News, as is Pirro.

Dobbs most recently hosted an internet show called "Lou Dobbs Tonight" on Mike Lindell's FrankSpeech.com. How does one of the people who helped start CNN end up posting videos on the My Pillow Guy's website?

Certainly, Trump was a big factor. Dobbs was a business journalist; it's not difficult to imagine how Trump would appeal to him, at least on the bail-out-the-rich front. And Dobbs clearly had conservative views that morphed into populism. It was, in its way, sad to see a pioneering TV journalist turn into the purveyor of whatever lies and misinformation Trump was spouting at the time.

Dobbs earned his platform, then abused it

It's also dangerous, to journalistic integrity and truth. When Dobbs "reported" on things like the 2020 election, he looked for all intents like the Dobbs who was reporting for CNN on the 1987 stock-market crash. He had gravitas, experience, certainly expertise. A lot of people listened to what he said and believed it, no matter what he was saying.

This is what is so damaging when legitimate journalists don't call out lies and falsehoods and conspiracy theories, even among their peers — or among media outlets, large or small, that give voice to those who amplify them. Dobbs enjoyed a powerful platform, one that he earned, which makes it all the worse.

That's because he chose to use that platform irresponsibly. His obituaries would be reading a lot differently had he simply remained a conservative pundit who occasionally said controversial things. The airwaves are full of them. Instead, he went all in on Trumpism, lies and conspiracies, and his legacy instead becomes the question asked from the start.

What happened to Lou Dobbs?

What's Rush Limbaugh's media legacy?: He left hate, ugliness in his wake

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lou Dobbs' legacy: CNN, Fox News anchor traded truth for Trump