Lou Dobbs, Conservative Political Commentator, Dead at 78

Conservative commentator and talk show host Lou Dobbs died on Thursday, at age 78.

Dobbs, who as of late had been absent from his iHeartRadio talk show, “was a fighter till the very end — fighting for what mattered to him the most, God, his family and the country,” says a post to his social media account. “Lou’s legacy will forever live on as a patriot and a great American.”

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A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in economics, Dobbs was a part of CNN’s launch in 1980, serving as the new network’s vice president as well as the host of Moneyline (which would eventually be retitled Lou Dobbs Tonight).

After resigning from CNN for what would be a second time in 2008, he brought Lou Dobbs Tonight to Fox Business in 2011.

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Dobbs was the highest-rated host on Fox Business when, quite abruptly, his eponymous program was cancelled in February 2021 — a convenient 24 hours after he and Fox were named in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by voting technology company Smartmatic.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Lou Dobbs,” reads a statement from Fox News Media. “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.”

From 2021 until his death, Dobbs hosted The Great America Show on iHeart Radio and LouDobbs.com.

Lou Dobbs Tonight won an Emmy in 2004, while Dobbs himself received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in 2005. He also received the George Foster Peabody Award (for his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash), and in 1990 was given the Luminary Award by the Business Journalism Review for his “visionary work, which changed the landscape of business journalism in the 1980s.”

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