Fox Business has canceled host Lou Dobbs’s program Lou Dobbs Tonight, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.
The announcement came one day after voting-machine company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox, naming Dobbs in the suit along with hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. Smartmatic, whose machines were used only in Los Angeles County during the 2020 election, contends that lawyers for former President Trump “created a story about Smartmatic” to discredit its products in an attempt to bolster claims that Democrats stole the election.
However, Fox said in a statement that the change was a part of previously planned changes to the network’s programming.
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business,” a Fox representative told the Times. “This is part of those planned changes.”
Dobbs has not directly commented on the cancelation, although he retweeted criticisms of Fox on Friday evening. A staunch supporter of former President Trump, Dobbs repeatedly interviewed Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell to discuss now-debunked claims of widespread election fraud.
“Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou,” Trump said in a statement. “He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.”
Meanwhile, Fox has vowed to defend itself against Smartmatic’s suit.
Fox “is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion,” the network said on Thursday, and “will vigorously defend [against] this meritless lawsuit in court.”