Lou Dobbs Stokes Conspiracy Theories Over Notre Dame Cathedral Fire

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs on Tuesday night appeared to stoke conspiracy theories as he suggested French authorities took a “political decision” to quickly rule out arson as a cause of the devastating fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

French officials are still investigating what started Monday’s blaze at the iconic 850-year-old building, which they believe began as an accident and was “potentially linked” to renovation work.

But Dobbs muddied the waters for his viewers when he claimed it sounded “like a different kind of decision, perhaps a political decision rather than one based on careful investigation of the facts.”

Check out the clip here:

Dobbs earlier referenced an article by the International Business Times on a recent spate of vandalism in French churches in a bid to prove his point that the early dismissal of arson was a political one.

He said:

This is context, this is not speculation, this is the situation right now in France and, and the recent history of what has happened to Catholic churches throughout the nation. Ignored too often by some covering the tragedy, some who have ruled out speculation about the cause of the Notre Dame fire as they speculate, taking it as gospel that, well, arson was not the cause.

Dobbs’ approach was in stark contrast to that taken by Fox News hosts Shepard Smith and Neil Cavuto, who both cut interviews short on Monday when guests repeated speculation that the fire was deliberately started.

Other baseless and dangerous rumors to emerge about the cause of the blaze have blamed Muslims and French President Emmanuel Macron.