Veteran Cable TV Journalist Lou Dobbs Dies

Veteran cable news host Lou Dobbs, whose more than four-decade career included shows on CNN and Fox Business Network, has died at 78.

Dobbs’ death was confirmed on his social media accounts, including on X. No cause of death was given. “Lou was a fighter till the very end — fighting for what mattered to him most,” the statement read. “Lou’s legacy will forever live on as a patriot and a great American.”

Dobbs spent nearly 30 years at CNN, hosting the business-news show Moneyline in 1980 before it was renamed Lou Dobbs Tonight in 2003. Dobbs left CNN in 2009 and in 2010 joined Fox Business Network, where he also hosted a show called Lou Dobbs Tonight. 

A staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, Dobbs’s Fox Business show was eventually canceled in 2021 after he was named in a $2.7 billion defamation suit from voting technology company Smartmatic, which claims that Dobbs and other Fox hosts defamed the company while supporting former President Trump's theories that the election was rigged.

Trump lauded Dobbs in a Thursday post on his social media platform Truth Social, saying that the commentator "was unique in so many ways, and loved our country. Our warmest condolences to his wonderful life, Debi, and family. He will be greatly missed!”

Industry executives and politicians also took to social media to pay tribute to Dobbs.