Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs took to the airwaves Thursday after a Nation magazine exposé revealed he’s relied on undocumented workers for the upkeep of his multimillion-dollar estates and the horses he keeps for his daughter. Dobbs has been called the most influential spokesperson for the anti-immigration movement and has often used his broadcasts to criticize employers who break US law by hiring undocumented workers. Appearing on MSNBC, Dobbs said he isn’t responsible for the hiring of undocumented labor by contractors he employs.

Lou Dobbs: “The only person who would have been an illegal in any context would have been a landscaper who was working for the contractor working on my house in Florida. That may have happened. But that isn’t my employee, nor is it the reason I would have contracted with that landscaper. And to suggest I hired the person who is illegal, if indeed she can document there was someone illegal, is an absurdity.”

The author of the article, Isabel Macdonald, debated Dobbs on MSNBC as well as his radio broadcast. Earlier in the day, Macdonald discussed her article here on Democracy Now!

Isabel Macdonald: “I think it really highlights the extent to which Dobbs’s rhetoric about immigration is completely out of touch with the reality of the immigrant workers who form such an integral part of the American economy, especially when it comes to service sectors, and especially when it comes to the upkeep of the Dobbs’s own lifestyle.”