Newsflash: Forget all that controversy surrounding CNN’s Latinos in America series earlier this fall (CNN came under heavy fire for keeping incendiary host Lou Dobbs as a mainstream news anchor while trying to reach out to Latino audiences). Apparently, Lou Dobbs should now be known as Latinos’ “great friend,” according to… well, Lou Dobbs.
To give Lou some credit, he did find a way to incorporate Latinos, especially Latino immigrants, into just about every “Lou Dobbs Tonight” broadcast, even when the topic was completely unrelated. Heck, Dobbs even gave Latino immigrants credit for a new wave of leprosy in the United States.
What a guy.
Andrea Nill of Think Progress has the story, in “Dobbs Calls Himself Latinos’ ‘Greatest Friend,’ Denies Tying Leprosy To Undocumented Immigrants:”
Today in an interview with Maria Celeste on Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo, ousted CNN anchor Lou Dobbs denied ever erroneously claiming that undocumented immigrants are bringing leprosy to the United States. Instead he attacked Celeste for bringing up reports that he aired on his show in the past. From interview (translated from Spanish):
DOBBS: Let’s be very clear: I did not support that report, in fact we corrected that report. And secondly, in fairness to me, I never said a word about leprosy and undocumented immigrants as you call them. My correspondent on our broadcast ad-libbed…obviously she was wrong. My only declaration in response to that report was one word: “incredible.”
CELESTE: You were also confronted with this erroneous information by Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes and you said that you supported 100% of what you had said on the show, and that you were the managing editor of the program, and in your show, everything that was said was factual….
DOBBS: Maria, in the interest of fairness, would you like to tell your audience how long ago that report was?
CELESTE:That was a few years ago…
DOBBS: No, Maria, that was four years ago…
CELESTE: It doesn’t matter how many years ago, you never retracted…This is your opportunity to clarify that and once and for all put it to rest doing whatever you choose to do — an apology, a retraction — whatever you feel most comfortable with.
Watch it:
Nill continues by reminding Think Progress readers that Dobbs never retracted his statement, nor did he take the opportunity on Telemundo to apologize for demonizing immigrants in such an egregious manner:
Despite the fact that Dobbs did in fact state that “the invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans,” he refused to issue a retraction or apology on Telemundo.
However, Dobbs did tell the Latino community that he is one of its “greatest friends,” and he wants to work with them. He defended himself on the show by explaining that he is not “an enemy of Latinos,” but rather that the far-left has characterized him as such with its propaganda. The CBS website shows the 60 Minutes segment that aired in 2007.
That sleight of hand, I might add, is what is truly “incredible.”
