Lou Dobbs, conservative cable news anchor, dies aged 78

Lou Dobbs, a longtime cable news anchor known in recent years for supporting Donald Trump and for spreading misinformation, has died at age 78, according to statements posted on his social media accounts.

Trump paid tribute to Dobbs as “a friend, and truly incredible Journalist, Reporter, and Talent” in a post on his social media site, writing: “He understood the World, and what was ‘happening,’ better than others.”

Dobbs, a nightly presence on Fox Business Network for more than a decade, was also praised by Fox News Media in a statement as “an incredible business mind with a gift for broadcasting” and someone who “helped pioneer cable news into a successful and influential industry”.

Fox News cancelled Dobbs’ popular show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, in 2021, after Dobbs became a major contributor to the false narrative that the 2020 election had been stolen, and continued airing those ideas on his program even after admitting that they lacked actual proof .

Dobbs was named in a lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems over lies told on the network about the 2020 presidential election. A mediator in 2023 pushed the two sides toward a $787m settlement, averting a trial. A mountain of evidence – some damning, some merely embarrassing – showed many Fox executives and on-air talent didn’t believe allegations aired mostly on shows hosted by Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. At the time, they feared angering Trump fans in the audience with the truth.

Dobbs had previously made headlines as a CNN host in 2009 for repeatedly raising questions about whether Barack Obama was a US citizen, and continuing with those questions despite the documented evidence of Obama’s birth in Hawaii. Trump would also become a major figure in the “birther” conspiracy, which was widely condemned as racist.

Dobbs’s death was announced on Thursday in a post on his official Twitter/X account, which called him 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 Debi, children and grandchildren,” the post said.

Dobbs had joined CNN at its inception in 1980 and worked at the network for more than two decades, CNN reported , eventually anchoring the program Moneyline.

“Lou was one of the CNN originals, who helped launch and shape the network,” a CNN spokesperson said .

Once the most visible television business journalist with his Moneyline show in the 1990s, Dobbs made CNN management uneasy as he grew more opinionated and drew angry protests from Latinos for his emphasis on curbing illegal immigration. He left CNN in 2009.

When he joined Fox Business, Dobbs said he considered himself the underdog. A few years later his show was highly rated and he was a key figure on the right-leaning network.

Dobbs said he always wanted to be straight with his viewers about his own views on issues.

“My audience has always expected me to tell them where I’m coming from, and I don’t see any reason to disappoint them,” he said in 2011.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

• This article was amended on 19 July 2024. Lou Dobbs was a major contributor to the false narrative that the 2020 election – not the 2024 election as an earlier version of this article said – was stolen.