Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

A Lou Dobbs Fox segment has declared Paul Ryan a sellout enemy of Trump

Dobbs defended Trump’s deal with Democrats.

President Trump Addresses Annual CPAC Event In National Harbor, Maryland
President Trump Addresses Annual CPAC Event In National Harbor, Maryland
Fox Business commentator Lou Dobbs.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Democrats found an unusual ally in President Donald Trump on Wednesday, as the president bypassed Republican leaders and agreed on a short-term debt ceiling increase, funding the government for another three months and setting up a budget fight for mid-December.

Publicly, Republican leaders adopted a more conciliatory tone, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that Trump did not want to face a government shutdown when the nation is dealing with the fallout from a devastating natural disaster and potentially staring down another hurricane.

In the US House of Representatives, Freedom Caucus Chair and Trump ally Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican, told the Washington Post that Trump had no conservative options on the debt ceiling to choose.

But privately, they were livid that the debt ceiling was pushed off for another few months, according to multiple reports.

“A three-month debt ceiling? Why not do a daily debt ceiling?” Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho told Politico reporters. Of Trump, Simpson added, “He’s the best deal-maker ever. Don’t you know? I mean, he’s got a book out!”

At Fox, things were different, with conservative commentator Lou Dobbs not only going to lengths to defend Trump’s deal with Democratic leaders, but also blasting Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Dobbs is a staunch defender of Trump, and characterized the president’s siding with Democrats as a result of Republicans holding up his agenda. In a strange move, Dobbs described Democrats as more willing to play ball with Trump.

“Contrast Ryan’s inane insults, his obstinance and subversion of President Trump to the behavior and rhetoric of Democratic leadership of late,” Dobbs said. “They’ve calmed themselves. They’ve been far more conciliatory in their rhetoric over recent weekends and now Ryan is fully exposed to the nation.”

Dobbs went even further, repeatedly calling Ryan a RINO — a “Republican in name only.”

“The president not only took RINO Ryan to the woodshed but eliminated any need for any Republican to ever pretend again that Ryan is a real Republican in any way or that any RINO has a political future after Mr. Trump simply booted the hapless fool of a speaker out of the way of those trying to get the nation’s business done,” Dobbs said.

Other conservative media outlets that have been sympathetic to Trump in the past were less glowing. Joel Pollak, an editor at Breitbart (now run by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon), said that conservatives now have to band together to stop the president from teaming up with “liberal Republicans” and Democrats.

“By working with Democrats, Trump can bypass the Republican leadership, GOP moderates, and personal foes like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ),” Pollack wrote. “However, it also means that he can cobble deals together between liberal Republicans and the Democrat minority, leaving conservatives out in the cold. The only way to stop him is for Republicans to unite. By showing he can deal with Pelosi and Schumer, Trump may have found the one way of making them do so.”

See More:

More in Politics

Politics
The rise of the progressive billionaire candidateThe rise of the progressive billionaire candidate
Politics

Why some on the left are feeling warmly toward Tom Steyer and other very wealthy contenders.

By Andrew Prokop
Politics
Mifepristone survives another Supreme Court scare — for nowMifepristone survives another Supreme Court scare — for now
Politics

Only Thomas and Alito publicly dissented.

By Ian Millhiser
Podcasts
Why the anti-abortion movement is disappointed in TrumpWhy the anti-abortion movement is disappointed in Trump
Podcast
Podcasts

Trump helped overturn Roe. Anti-abortion advocates still aren’t happy.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
A year of Trump is backfiring on the religious rightA year of Trump is backfiring on the religious right
Politics

Americans don’t really want “Christian nationalism.”

By Christian Paz
Politics
The real reason Americans hate the economy so muchThe real reason Americans hate the economy so much
Politics

Did decades of low inflation make the public far more unforgiving when it finally did surge?

By Andrew Prokop
Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram