Lou Dobbs dead: TV news host, conservative commentator dies

Lou Dobbs speaks into a microphone while gesturing with his hands

July 18, 2024 Updated 4:18 PM PT

Lou Dobbs, the godfather of financial TV news who made a sharp turn into populist right-wing politics, has died. He was 78.

The veteran broadcaster’s death was confirmed Thursday in posts on his social media accounts.

“Lou was a fighter till the very end — fighting for what mattered to him the most, God, his family and the country. Lou’s legacy will forever live on as a patriot and a great American. We ask for your prayers for Lou’s wonderful wife Deb, children and grandchildren.”

His death was first announced on Truth Social by former President Trump.

“The Great Lou Dobbs has just passed away,” Trump said Thursday. “A friend, and truly incredible Journalist, Reporter, and Talent. He understood the World, and what was ‘happening,’ better than others. Lou was unique in so many ways, and loved our Country. Our warmest condolences to his wonderful wife, Debi, and family. He will be greatly missed!”

In a Thursday statement to The Times, Fox News Media said it was “deeply saddened by the passing of Lou Dobbs.”

“An incredible business mind with a gift for broadcasting, Lou helped pioneer cable news into a successful and influential industry,” the statement said. “We are immensely grateful for his many contributions and send our heartfelt condolences to his family.”

No details about Dobbs’ cause of death were made immediately available, and a spokesperson for Dobbs did not respond Thursday to The Times’ requests for comment.

Dobbs joined CNN as chief economics correspondent and anchor of “Moneyline” in 1980 at the inception of the cabler. He later became anchor and managing editor of “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” which provided CNN with strong ratings — but shy of those generated by another cable news pioneer, Larry King.

After dustups with the CNN management, he abruptly quit on air in 2009 and moved to Fox Business Network, which relaunched “Lou Dobbs Tonight” in 2011.

Former Fox Chief Executive Roger Ailes signed the news anchor to the cable network, where he became a mainstay. Dobbs was the company’s most outspoken supporter of Trump’s economic and immigration policies. In the weeks after the 2020 election, he also expressed anger on his program that the Republican Party did not do more to act on the former president’s claims that the election was rigged in favor of President Biden.

In 2021, Fox News Media canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight” over his allegations of voter fraud.

Dobbs’ show was axed a month after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, when Fox News’ coverage of Trump’s “stolen election” claims was facing intense scrutiny. Critics have long contended that Fox legitimized the election lies.

Lawsuits, including one brought by Dominion Voting Systems, alleged that Dobbs’ Fox Business Network program had given Trump boosters, including lawyer Sidney Powell, a megaphone to spread phony election fraud claims that undermined the public’s trust in the election.

Dobbs’ show was shelved almost immediately after another voting software company, Smartmatic, filed a $2.7-billion defamation suit against Fox, Dobbs and hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. That case is still pending.

Smartmatic and Dominion separately alleged the hosts perpetuated lies and disinformation about their voting machines, despite the fact that Fox executives and on-air talent recognized that such theories were bogus. Fox has settled at least two cases that took aim at its voter fraud coverage, including agreeing last year to pay $787 million to Dominion.

Dobbs was not fired outright. Instead, the network kept him on the payroll. But without a regular platform, his influence soon waned. He most recently hosted the iHeartRadio podcast “The Great America Show” and had been absent for several weeks.

Dobbs was born in Texas in 1945, but his family moved to Rupert, Idaho, when he was young. He once told the Horatio Alger Association that he remembered his father, who ran a propane business for the farming town, reading the newspaper every morning.

Reading, and keeping up with news events, was woven into the family’s daily life.

Even before he was a teenager, Dobbs worked summers in the Idaho potato fields. While attending high school, he was president of the student body and captain of the debate team. A high school teacher recommended that he apply for a scholarship to Harvard University, which he received. While in Cambridge, he attended a discussion that influenced him greatly involving the noted economist Milton Friedman.

“That night I understood the relationship between capitalism and democracy in terms that I carry with me to this day,” Dobbs told the Horatio Alger Association.

Dobbs was in college when his father died, which devastated him. Upon graduating, he worked with the National Alliance of Businessmen, and worked on government projects related to urban unemployment. His first job in business was in Los Angeles with Union Bank. Eventually, he found his way into journalism.

His first news gig was as a police and fire reporter, earning $75 a week — a significant cut from his banking jobs — in Yuma, Ariz. He eventually became an anchor for Channel 8 in Phoenix and then a station in Seattle, where he worked as a news anchor and business reporter.

Dobbs is survived by his wife, Debi, and his four children.

Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.