Fox Business Network canceled the show by Lou Dobbs, Donald Trump’s fervent supporter with a story of defending disinformation that promoted unfounded conspiracy theories of electoral fraud after the election.
Friday night marked the final screening of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs’ regular evening show. The Fox presenter was a major contributor to the false narrative that the election was stolen and continued to defend those views in his program, even after admitting that they lacked real evidence.
“Eight weeks of the election and we still have no verifiable and tangible support for the crimes that everyone knows were committed,” he said in January.
Dobbs, 75, has hosted the show since 2011. Trump considered it mandatory TV and even reportedly corrected the host during major policy meetings.
Dobbs is still considered the most popular presenter on Fox Business Network, and he remained under contract, although he is not expected to reappear on a new show. His program slot, which airs twice on week nights, will now be populated with a program called Fox Business Tonight, which will feature Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman as hosts.
The news of the cancellation came a day after Dobbs, 75, was named as a defendant in a defamation suit filed by Smartmatic, an electoral technology company and electronic ballot box maker, which accuses Dobbs and other Fox News anchors of promoting unsubstantiated allegations. Smartmatic’s involvement in a scheme to hand over the presidency to Joe Biden.
Citing the manufactured report, Smartmatic sued $ 2.7 billion. The 285-page lawsuit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court, says the network launched a “disinformation campaign” against the company, whose voting machines were used only in Los Angeles County. Former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who appeared as guests on the network, were also cited in the defamation suit.
Fox said action to end the Dobbs show was underway before the lawsuit.
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers changes to the schedule and there are plans to launch new formats as appropriate after the election, including Fox Business,” said a Fox News spokesman. “This is part of the planned changes.”
Regarding the Smartmatic lawsuit, Fox said on Thursday that the network was “proud of our 2020 electoral coverage and will vigorously defend this process without merit in court”.
Dobbs said he had no comment on Friday.