REALITY CHECK

Lou Dobbs Said Media Hyped Coronavirus. Now He’s in Quarantine.

The Fox host stayed home Friday night “out of an abundance of caution” after a team member tested positive for the coronavirus.

Friday night’s edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight opened with a message from fill-in host David Asman. 

“Lou is in self-quarantine tonight,” Asman told viewers. “We just learned that one of his team members has tested positive for COVID-19.” After wishing that Fox employee a “speedy recovery,” he added, “Lou feels well, he has no symptoms, but out of an abundance of caution, he and his team are taking the necessary precautions.”

Dobbs appears to be taking the coronavirus threat to his own health seriously after weeks of following the Fox News line that appeared to claim the virus was an overblown “hoax” perpetrated by the media. He only changed his tune to start praising President Trump’s response to the crisis earlier this week when it was no longer possible to ignore the reality on the ground. 

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Less than two weeks ago, even as he reported that the virus had infected 113,000 people in 111 countries and territories around the world, Dobbs was accusing the “national left-wing media” of “playing up fears of the coronavirus” in order to drive down the stock market. 

More recently, he had taken to echoing Trump by referring to COVID-19 as the “Wuhan virus” and lauding the president for causing a brief market increase with his national emergency declaration a week ago. On Wednesday of this week, he put up a poll on his screen that asked viewers to rate Trump’s “leadership” on the “Wuhan virus.” He gave them three options: “Superb,” “Great” or “Very good.” 

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