Lou Dobbs has been known to make an off-color remark or two about immigration, but even he has his limits.
In an interview with anti-immigration big-wig William Gheen, Dobbs called Gheen “a dangerous, dangerous distorter of reality” for claiming that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is gay.
At a Greenville, South Carolina Tea Party over the weekend, Gheen accused Graham of selling out to pro-amnesty groups in order to keep his supposed homosexuality a secret.
Dobbs has since called out Gheen, who is president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, a self-described “national border security organization,” and then invited him on his radio show to defend his remarks.
“No matter how passionate you are” on illegal immigration, Dobbs said, “I cannot imagine why you would do such a thing.”
Gheen got defensive, sarcastically saying, “It’s really weird that you can’t understand that, while you’re negotiating with Senator Schumer to support Graham’s amnesty plan.”
“The people of ALIPAC better understand that you’re a dangerous, dangerous distorter of reality,” Dobbs responded.
“How does it feel to be the Southern Poverty Law Center yourself, now Lou? Way to go, you turned 180 degrees,” Gheen shot back, referring to a nonprofit group of civil rights lawyers.
Dobbs chuckled. “I think that you have really lost your way,” he said. “I’m asking you to dump the hate from your heart.”
Gheen had some advice for Dobbs too: “Don’t sit at that amnesty table and hold hands with Obama and Napolitano.”
“You’ve become somebody I don’t recognize,” said Dobbs.
Dobbs and ALIPAC have a history: ALIPAC had been a strong supporter of Dobbs during his stint on CNN, until Dobbs went on something of an immigration-apology tour after he left the cable news network.
After Dobbs advocated for “some kind of path to citizenship for illegal immigrants,” ALIPAC withdrew its support, and even shut down some of its Dobbs fansites, like www.LouDobbsForPresident.org and the Facebook page “Draft Lou Dobbs for President or US Senate.”
Full audio of the interview here.
h/t SPLC
[TPM PHOTO FEATURES: BYE! LOU DOBBS, A RETROSPECTIVE]
