Over the years, Lou Dobbs has consistently used his CNN platform to spread hatred and fear. He has promoted the work of hate groups, spread racially charged conspiracy theories including about President Obama’s birth certificate, railed against “ethnocentric special interests,” and accused the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of being sympathetic to “Mexico’s export of drugs and illegal aliens.” When advertisers sponsor Lou Dobbs, this is what they are paying for.
- Dobbs advanced racially charged conspiracy theories about Obama’s birth certificate.
- Dobbs has close ties to “hate group” FAIR.
- Dobbs said Sotomayor nomination was “absolute pandering to the Hispanics.”
- Dobbs declared, “Mexico has become our enemy.”
- Dobbs smeared U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as sympathetic to “Mexico’s export of drugs and illegal aliens.”
- Dobbs fearmongered about Mexican “reconquista” plot.
- Dobbs aired hate group graphic to illustrate “the Vicente Fox Aztlan tour.”
- Dobbs spread leprosy falsehood in claiming “invasion of illegal aliens” threatening Americans’ “health.”
- Dobbs asked if Obama is “pandering to ethnocentric special interests again” by accepting Richardson’s endorsement.
- Dobbs praised Philadelphia English-only sign ruling as “a defeat for ethnocentric special interests.”
Dobbs advanced racially charged conspiracy theories about Obama’s birth certificate. Dobbs suggested on his July 15, 2009, CNN show that the birth certificate Obama provided to FactCheck.org is not “the real document” and suggested on his radio show that day that it is not “the real deal.” After asking if Obama should be “more forthcoming” about his birth certificate, Dobbs added: “One of our callers, by the way, pointed out that he didn’t release — he didn’t release his medical records, either. Now isn’t that interesting? And hasn’t produced some other documents. What’s the deal? What is the deal here? I’m starting to think we have a — we have a document issue. Do you suppose he’s un — no, I won’t even use the word undocumented. It wouldn’t be right.” On his July 21, 2009, radio show, Dobbs faulted “certain quarters of the national liberal media” for “absolutely trying to knock down the issue of President Obama’s birth certificate.” On his July 23, 2009, radio show, Dobbs addressed media reports on his conspiracy theories by declaring, “I do believe in a national left-wing media conspiracy in which they work in concert and attack like hell.”
Dobbs has close ties to “hate group” FAIR. In August, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) — an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a “hate group” — announced that Dobbs is scheduled to help lead its annual “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” radio host rally. A year earlier, Dobbs broadcast his CNN show from the FAIR rally. In addition, the group has given Dobbs an award for “his continued efforts in leading the immigration reform movement through both his talk radio show and his television show.” In the past year, Dobbs has cited FAIR as a credible source on immigration issues at least six times and has routinely failed to disclose his close association with the group.
FAIR was founded by John Tanton, who still sits on the organization’s board of directors. In 1986, Tanton reportedly wrote: “As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night?” In 1993, he reportedly wrote: “I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.” In 1997, Tanton was quoted by the Detroit Free Press as saying that without a reduction in immigration levels, the United States will be overwhelmed by people “defecating and creating garbage and looking for jobs.” FAIR also has a history of backing racially charged advertisements. In 2004, the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star editorialized that ads backed by FAIR at the time were “trash” that “incite hate,” “play upon stereotypical racial fears,” and “are full of half-truths and lies.’”
Dobbs said Sotomayor nomination was “absolute pandering to the Hispanics.” On his May 26, 2009, radio show, Dobbs said that Obama’s nomination of then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court was “pure, pure, absolute pandering to the Hispanics and … filling in the box on one more minority who is actually … a majority, and that is women.” Dobbs went on to suggest that Sotomayor’s comments about a “wise Latina” judge were “racist.”
Dobbs declared, “Mexico has become our enemy.” Dobbs complained on his March 3, 2009, radio show that there are people “trying to control our political agendas” and “social agendas with political correctness, trying to control thought, and, of course, speech through political correctness.” He added that while it may be “politically incorrect,” it is “absolutely factually correct” that “Mexico has become our enemy.”
Dobbs smeared U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as sympathetic to “Mexico’s export of drugs and illegal aliens.” On March 10, 2009, Dobbs criticized Obama for delivering a speech on education to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Dobbs accused Obama of “pandering to the pro-amnesty open-borders lobby” and aired a clip of a FAIR spokesman saying, “We don’t want the president to make it appear as if he’s favoring one particular group in the disposition of public benefits.” Dobbs also said, “Making a decision to talk about a national initiative on education from the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which is effectively an organization that is interested in the export of American capital and production to Mexico, and Mexico’s export of drugs and illegal aliens to the United States. This is crazy stuff.” On March 17, 2009, Dobbs said he “made a mistake,” explaining, “I, of course, do not believe that the chamber supports or condones either drug or human trafficking. My apologies to the … U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and I hope that they will forgive me for that misspeaking.”
Dobbs fearmongered about Mexican “reconquista” plot. On the March 31, 2006, edition of his show, Dobbs introduced a report by correspondent Christine Romans by stating, “There are some Mexican citizens and some Mexican-Americans who want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the Southwestern United States given over to Mexico. These groups call it the reconquista, Spanish for reconquest. And they view the millions of Mexican illegal aliens in particular entering the United States as potentially an army of invaders to achieve that takeover.” Romans stated, “Long downplayed as a theory of the radical ethnic fringe, the la reconquista, the reconquest, the reclamation, the return, it’s resonating with some on the streets,” and went on to say, “A lot of open borders groups disavow it completely. But the growing street protests in favor of illegal immigration, Lou, are increasingly taking on the tone of that very radicalism.”
Dobbs aired hate group graphic to illustrate “the Vicente Fox Aztlan tour.” On the May 23, 2006, Lou Dobbs Tonight, correspondent Casey Wian characterized then-Mexican President Vicente Fox’s trip to Salt Lake City, Utah, as a “Mexican military incursion” and claimed that “[y]ou could call” Fox’s trip to the United States “the Vicente Fox Aztlan tour,” an apparent, baseless reference to those who purportedly espouse the concept of “reconquista.” During Wian’s report, CNN featured the following graphic of “Aztlan” that was sourced to the Council of Conservative Citizens — an organization whose “Statement of Principles” says: “We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called ‘affirmative action’ and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.” In response to criticism, a CNN spokeswoman later said that a “freelance field producer” had “grabbed the Council of Conservative Citizens map without knowing the nature of the organization” and that its inclusion in the segment “regrettably, was missed in the vetting process.”
Dobbs spread leprosy falsehood in claiming “invasion of illegal aliens” threatening Americans’ “health.” On the April 14, 2005, edition of his show, Dobbs said, “The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans.” He then introduced a report in which Romans said that “the woman in our piece [lawyer Madeline Cosman] told us that there were about 900 cases of leprosy for 40 years. There have been 7,000 in the past three years. Leprosy in this country.” “Incredible,” Dobbs replied. However, the claim was wildly inflated. According to the National Hansen’s Disease Program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 398 U.S. cases of Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, reported between 2002 and 2004 — “the past three years” at the time Romans made her statement. Despite the fact that Romans’ original 2005 reporting on leprosy has been proven false, Dobbs has never admitted to the error on his show and indeed defended Romans’ reporting on numerous occasions. For example, on the May 6, 2007, edition of 60 Minutes, Dobbs said of the leprosy claim, “If we reported it, it’s a fact.” Dobbs again defended his show’s leprosy reporting as recently as September 9, saying that in the original report, “we pointed out that there was leprosy rising in this country, and the reporter misstated — because the source on the story misstated — the number of years it had taken to do that. But the number — the cases — were 7,000. And we reported that.”
Dobbs asked if Obama is “pandering to ethnocentric special interests again” by accepting Richardson’s endorsement. On March 21, 2008, Dobbs introduced his program by announcing: “Tonight, Senator Obama wins the endorsement of the nation’s only Hispanic governor, Bill Richardson. Is Obama pandering to ethnocentric special interests again? We’ll have complete coverage.” The subsequent report by correspondent Jessica Yellin did not include a discussion of whether Obama is “pandering to ethnocentric special interests.”
Dobbs praised Philadelphia English-only sign ruling as “a defeat for ethnocentric special interests.” On his March 20, 2008, show, Dobbs hosted Joe Vento, owner of a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant, who had recently, in Dobbs’ words, “won his fight to use English-only signs” in his restaurant. Vento is famous for displaying a sign in his shop demanding that customers place their orders only in English. Dobbs asserted that the city of Philadelphia’s Commission on Human Relations’ decision that Vento’s sign did not violate any laws was “a victory for commonsense. A rare victory, and a defeat for ethnocentric special interests, political correctness and assorted nonsense in Philadelphia.”
