Louis Carl “ Lou “ Dobbs (b. Childress, Texas; September 24, 1945) is an American journalist and columnist. He has a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.
His Lou Dobbs Tonight was the top-rated show on FOX Business,[1] until it was abruptly canceled by the network's globalist owners on February 5, 2021. Dobbs' background includes success as a longtime Cable News Network anchor, starting in 1980, and host and managing editor of CNN's Moneyline and Lou Dobbs Tonight. Dobbs is a conservative, though he often describes himself as an "independent populist" critic of the "excesses of capitalism." He has focused on immigration for years. Dobbs's FOX Business show is consistently rated as the most-watched business news program.[2]
Dobbs is impassioned about several issues, especially open immigration policies, the negative effects of big business on America's middle class, global warming alarmism, and the military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is more outspoken on his afternoon radio show, which made its debut in March 2008. On radion, he has spoken often in favor of the "birther" theory that President Obama is not a United States citizen. When he mentioned the citizenship issue on CNN over the summer, he raised the ire of his bosses and provoked criticism from left-wing groups.
Dobbs once stoked rumors he may run for office—perhaps for the Senate from New Jersey, perhaps for the White House in 2012. Early polling in Nov. 2009 shows he could attract up to 14% of the vote, hurting the Republican candidate. However, some of that is almost certainly a generic protest vote as an unnamed "some other candidate" picks up between six percent (6%) and nine percent (9%) of the vote in similar 2012 match-ups.[3]
To soften his hard-earned reputation as a hardcore "enemy" of immigrants, Dobbs once told the Spanish-language network Telemundo he supported a plan to legalize millions of illegal workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair amnesty. He now tells Hispanics, "I am one of your greatest friends."[4] He has since support consistently conservative migration policies.
Ed Rollins, a Republican consultant who advised Ross Perot in his presidential campaigns in the 1990s, said Dobbs has two big factors in his favor: name recognition and a turbulent economic time that can help a populist, third-party figure.
On November 11, 2009, Dobbs announced that he was leaving CNN to pursue other opportunities to "engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day." [5]
His CNN program drew an average of 631,000 viewers in October 2009, putting him in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC. Like other CNN programs, his ratings had declined.
Dobbs has won almost every award in journalism and he's a best-selling author and columnist. He's an independent populist and the leading media advocate for working men and women, their families, our middle class and the American way of life.[6]
Once a self-described "Lifelong Republican" and fiscal conservative, Dobbs now considers himself an "independent populist" and criticizes what he sees as the "excesses of capitalism." Illegal immigration is one such excess that he scrutinizes on his television program. He is opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens and advocates enforcement of existing immigration laws, along with a tightening of border security. On trade, Dobbs advocates protectionist restrictions in order to protect American industry, and maintain U.S. sovereignty. Positions that are not regularly covered on Dobb's show include a pro-abortion stance, opposition to gun control measures, and support for the homosexual agenda.
Lou is married to Debi Lee Segura, a former CNN sports anchor; they have four children and reside on a 300-acre horse farm in Sussex County, New Jersey.
Categories: [Broadcasters] [Conservative Commentators]