Allow me to share a few thoughts about Lou Dobbs, recently notable for having a guest spread an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory so rancid even Fox News felt compelled to condemn it. Many people remember Dobbs as a guy who used to have a finance show... /1
But long before Donald Trump ran for president, Dobbs was the most virulently anti-immigrant host on cable TV. For instance, here he is in 2005 warning that undocumented immigrants were bringing in LEPROSY to America: transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/05… /2
Fun quote: "The invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans. Highly-contagious diseases are now crossing our borders decades after those diseases had been eradicated in this country." I shouldn't have to say that it was utterly bogus, but I do. /3
Dobbs was also obsessed with conspiracy theories about how dark forces inside our government were plotting to destroy American sovereignty and create a three-nation "North American Union" modeled on the EU. The dollar would be eliminated and replaced by the Amero. /4
"President Bush signed a formal agreement that will end the United States as we know it," he said in 2006, touting an obscure gov't report as the secret plan to dissolve America as an independent country: /5
Dobbs was also obsessed with the "NAFTA Superhighway," a fictional plan to run a 1200-foot wide highway from Mexico all the way to Canada. It was supposed to be the key to the whole sovereignty-destroying conspiracy. /5
I actually went on his show in 2008 to talk about it. I asked him if he had evidence for this conspiracy. He claimed he had documents proving it. I asked what they were and when he would show them. He shouted for 5 minutes about the foreign invasion and the segment was over. /6
Point is: Lou Dobbs is an OG xenophobe who has been laying the foundation for years for exactly the kind of anti-immigrant hysteria and conspiracy-mongering that President Trump currently believes, and not without reason, is the key to his political survival. /end
