I think your identification of Lou Dobbs is exactly right. And having just watched NETWORK for the first time ... I do think the fact that Dobbs kind of looked like Howard Beale is particularly eerie!

I also think you're right to note that nobody noticed Trump's views on this. Partly this may be because he was a little more "liberal" on other issues--certainly his vibe, compared to say the 700 Club, was more in tune with what we'd now call "based" conservatism than Christian nationalism.

In general my discipline could do more to think about influencers like Dobbs (and Trump)...