Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson dies at age 93

Controversial televangelist Pat Robertson, who rose to fame for creating a religious broadcasting empire but was often criticized for his views on women, the LGBTQ community and other religions, has died at the age of 93.

No cause of death was given.

Robertson was best known for his role in “The 700 Club,” a variety news hour presented from a Christian perspective. Much of his commentary focused on his religious beliefs, although he often drifted into political commentary.

His hybrid brand of religion and politics became a mainstay in the modern GOP, and Robertson himself ran for president in 1988.

But many of his comments sparked anger, such as calling Islam inherently violent, feminism “anti-family,” and LGBTQ people the result of “demonic possession.”

As Robertson’s religious influence grew in the US, he plunged directly into politics and in 1988 sought the Republican nomination for president.

His bid against George HW Bush was ultimately unsuccessful, but he brought a large religious following into the political cage. He placed second in the Iowa caucuses behind Bush, due to his relative success due to his appeal among the state’s extensive network of evangelical Christian churches.

His signature call for support included asking listeners to pledge to work for him, pray for him, and donate to him—a rallying cry that allowed him to outshine some more established political rivals.

Robertson later supported Bush, who would go on to win the White House. The lasting influence of the religious leader on presidential politics is the force with which Republican presidential candidates court Iowa’s evangelical communities to this day.

The year after the election, Robertson formed the Christian Coalition in Chesapeake, which became a major force for grassroots GOP action. He remained the president of the coalition until 2001, when he stepped aside to focus on ministerial work.

As “The 700 Club” gained a huge audience, Robertson began to attract high caliber guests, including US Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and eventually Donald Trump.

However, there were times when Robertson’s religiously oriented on-air statements met with backlash.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which killed thousands of innocent Americans, Robertson proclaimed that God had caused the attacks because of anger caused by the federal courts, pornography, abortion rights, and separation of church and state.

He described Islam as a Violent Religionwhich led then-President George W. Bush to distance himself from the religious host.

But Islam was not the only religion Robertson focused on. In March 1995, he called Hinduism “demonic.”

“I mean, these people are out to kill other people in the name of their God,” Robertson said at the time.

In addition to views on religion, Robertson targeted many political debates for his commentary, such as when speaking of the feminist movement.

“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It’s about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians,” he once said.

Members of the gay community were also frequent targets, as Roberts was anti-LGBTQ. Robertson once said that LGBTQ orientation was a result of “demonic possession.”

“I think a lot of it is acquired. I don’t know all the genes or the genetics that are in your son to know what drives him to do what he does… said.

Robertson also spoke on foreign policy and his views on God’s influence on world affairs. After his falling out with George W. Bush, Robertson spoke out against the Iraq War.

“To sell the American people weapons of mass destruction was a bunch of bullshit and we were sold,” Robertson said. “We should never have gone to that country. As bad as Saddam Hussein was, he kept those warring factions in check and kept those radical Islamists in check.’

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Robertson made a special appearance on “The 700 Club” to say that Vladimir Putin was “forced by God” to invade the area, but that his ultimate goal is to “move against Israel ‘.

Finally, the televangelist was also known for his frequent predictions that the world would soon end or face the apocalypse.

In 1976, Robertson predicted that “a judgment will come upon the world” that would result in its end in 1982.

In his 1990 book “The New Millennium,” Robertson again claimed that the world would be destroyed on April 29, 2007, USA Today reported at the time.

In 2006, he predicted that the Pacific Northwest would be devastated by a tsunami and that “mass killings” would occur in America in 2007.

In 2020, Robertson predicted that an asteroid would destroy Earth five years after President Donald Trump won his fateful re-election.

Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson was born in Lexington, Virginia, on March 22, 1930. His father, Absalom Willis Robertson, served as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Virginia for nearly four decades.

Robertson served in the Korean War after graduating from Virginia University, Washington and Lee University. He earned a law degree from Yale after service, but failed the bar exam and did not pursue a career in law.

Robertson met his wife, Adelia “Dede” Elmer at Yale in 1952, where she earned a master’s degree in nursing. They had been married by a justice of the peace with neither family present, knowing that their parents would not approve of the union because Robertson was a Southern Baptist and his wife a Catholic.

In 1961, after buying a bankrupt television station in Portsmouth, Virginia, Robertson revived the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The organization was founded as a tax-exempt non-profit religious organization that continues to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in “ministry support” each year to this day.

In 2021, Robertson retired as host of ‘The 700 Club’. His son Gordon took over weekday hosting duties. Gordon had previously succeeded his father as CEO of CBN in 2007.

The religious media magnate also founded International Family Entertainment Inc. on, the parent company of The Family Channel on basic cable. In 1997, News Corp. from Rupert Murdoch IFE.

Robertson also wrote 15 books over the course of his life, including ‘The Turning Tide’ and ‘The New World Order’.

His wife Dede, to whom he had been married for nearly 70 years, died last year at the age of 94. The couple had four children, 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, according to a statement from CBN.