After weeks of following the Fox News line that the COVID-19 outbreak was an overblown “hoax” perpetrated by the media, Lou Dobbs appears to be taking the coronavirus threat to his own health seriously.
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.”
Less than two weeks ago, even as he reported that the virus had infected hundreds of thousands 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.
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.
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.”
Lou Dobbs is in self-quarantine after one of his team members tested positive for COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/rK18ys9xjc
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) March 20, 2020
Share your thoughts.
