Trump Announces Death of Lou Dobbs

Lou Dobbs , the veteran broadcaster who made his name on CNN and then Fox Business as an icon of financial news, passed away at the age of 78, former President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

“The Great Lou Dobbs has just passed away,” Trump said of the cable news host, who was one of his most ardent supporters on Fox until he was dropped by the network in 2021.

“A friend, and truly incredible Journalist, Reporter, and Talent,” Trump continued in a post on Truth Social. “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!”

Fox News Media extended condolences to the Dobbs family in a statement: “We are 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. We are immensely grateful for his many contributions and send our heartfelt condolences to his family.”

Dobbs joined CNN at its inception in 1980 as a host and reporter covering business. He quit CNN in 2009 amid tensions with network leadership over his provocative commentary regarding, among other things, illegal immigration. NPR’s David Folkenflik wrote at the time that Dobbs confessed to having been radicalized by the September 11 terror attacks, and “evolved on the air into an economic populist and a hard-liner on illegal immigration who often sparked the ire of Latinos.”

In 2011, then-Fox chief Roger Ailes hired Dobbs at Fox Business, where he hosted the top rated show Lou Dobbs Tonight through the election of Trump and until it was canceled in 2021. Fox never explained why the show was dropped, but the move came just one day after Dobbs was named in Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox for the promotion of false election claims being spread by Trump. Dobbs was an enthusiastic booster of those claims and regularly featured prominent election deniers like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell on his show.

This story is breaking and will be updated.