Lou Dobbs plays word games on undocumented labor story, would like you to feel sorry for him

A report today from The Nation and The Investigative Fund said that Lou Dobbs "has relied for years on undocumented labor for the upkeep of his multimillion-dollar estates and the horses he keeps for his 22-year-old daughter, Hillary, a champion show jumper." The article goes on to explain that The Dobbs Group, which owns the horses in question, "has relied on third parties to supply the labor he needs." It is these third parties that the magazine alleges have hired undocumented workers that have done work for Dobbs.

In his response to the story, Dobbs has stated, "I have never, nor has The Dobbs Group at any time, hired an illegal immigrant."

That isn't what The Nation is claiming. Dobbs is denying a charge that hasn't been made, apparently in an attempt to deflect from the story. The Nation even noted in their story that "Dobbs has heaped scorn on the government for using contractors that hire undocumented immigrants," which is the charge being made.

ABC News describes the exchange Dobbs had on his radio show with Isabel Macdonald, the author of the story:

Their conversation quickly turned into a confrontation:

Dobbs: "Did you say that I hired or my firm hired illegal immigrants?"

Macdonald: "I am saying that for years, undocumented immigrants looked after your show jumping horses, and for years, they looked after the grounds at your West Palm Beach estate in Florida. This article is fact-checked 100 percent, it is legally vetted."

Dobbs hammered Macdonald with questions but seemed loathe to offer any explanations himself. He suggested that if the workers he hired were illegal immigrants, he didn't know that.

Macdonald also noted to Dobbs, "You have actually contradicted not one single claim that was made in that article."

On his Twitter account and on his radio show, Dobbs claimed that The Nation "attacks my daughter" in the piece, and invoked the recent birth of his granddaughter. He complained that news organizations like CNN and the NY Daily News had picked up the story from a "left wing activist, advocacy publication."

Dobbs chose to deflect the story rather than answer the actual charges. He's made a name for himself on attacking institutions that do what he is accused of having done. But he didn't directly refute the story, choosing instead to parse words and attempt to elicit sympathy.