On Wednesday, Media Matters published a fantastic report and video which found that cable news hosts Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck regularly "serve up a steady diet of fear, anger, and resentment on the topic of illegal immigration.
Last night on CNN, an obviously irritated Lou Dobbs hosted Media Matters fellow Paul Waldman to debate the findings. Waldman pressed Dobbs to provide evidence of one of the major myths promoted by his popular show—that there is a "secret plan" to build a "NAFTA Superhighway" from Mexico to Canada. Dobbs could provide no evidence and angrily said, "You’re charging nonsense ... I reject it, I reject you, and I reject your position." Dobbs also called Waldman and Media Matters "ideologues" and "a left-wing hack." YouTube and transcript via Think Progress:
WALDMAN: So the question is, do you have — do you have actual evidence that there — that there is a plan that is going to take this all the way from Mexico to Canada? What is the evidence there? […]
DOBBS: The evidence is straightforward. … We haven’t enough time for this. … You are a left-wing advocacy group. You’re charging nonsense … I reject it, I reject you, and I reject your position!"
Dobbs has often broadcast erroneous immigration stories, such as claiming "illegal immigrants" were at risk for leprosy and aired a report saying the "invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans." When CBS News' 60 Minutes confronted Dobbs and told him the claim was false, Dobbs simply replied, “If we reported it, its a fact.”
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