VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster that turned a small station in Virginia into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried to run for president, and helped make religion a centerpiece of Republican Party politics in America through its Christian Coalition, died. He was 93 years old.
Robertson’s death Thursday was confirmed in an email by his broadcast network. No cause was given.
Robertson’s companies also included Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; the American Center for Law and Justice, which defends the First Amendment rights of religious people; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian organization.
For more than half a century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his television show “700 Club,” and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God’s judgment, blaming natural disasters on everything from homosexuality to teaching. of evolution
Money poured in as he solicited donations, his influence soared, and he brought a large following with him when he moved directly into politics seeking the 1988 GOP presidential nomination.
Robertson pioneered the now common strategy of courting Iowa’s network of evangelical Christian churches and finished second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of Vice President George HW Bush.
His masterstroke was insisting that three million supporters in the United States sign petitions before he decided to run, said Robertson’s biographer, Jeffrey K. Hadden. The tactic gave him an army.
“He asked people to pledge to work for him, pray for him and give him money,” Hadden, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, he told The Associated Press in 1988. ″Political historians may see it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate has ever done.″
Robertson later endorsed Bush, who won the presidency. The search for Iowa evangelicals is now a ritual for Republican hopefuls, including those currently seeking the White House in 2024.
Robertson started the Christian Coalition in Chesapeake in 1989, saying it would further the ideals of his campaign. The coalition became a major political force in the 1990s, mobilizing conservative voters through grassroots activities.
At the time of his resignation as chairman of the coalition in 2001, Robertson said he wanted to concentrate on ministerial work, his impact on both religion and politics in the US being “enormous”, according to John C. Green, professor emeritus of political science. at the University of Akron.
Many followed the path Robertson blazed in religious transmission, Green told the AP in 2021. In American politics, Robertson helped “consolidate the alliance between conservative Christians and the Republican Party.”
Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson was born on March 22, 1930 in Lexington, Virginia to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson. His father served for 36 years as a United States Representative and US Senator from Virginia.
After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he served as the Adjutant General of the 1st Marine Division in Korea.
He received his law degree from Yale University Law School, but failed the bar exam and chose not to pursue a career in law.
Robertson met his wife, Adelia “Dede” Elmer, at Yale in 1952. He was a Southern Baptist, she was Catholic and earned a master’s degree in nursing. Eighteen months later, they ran away to marry a justice of the peace, knowing no family would approve.
Robertson became interested in politics until he found religion, Dede Robertson he told AP in 1987. He surprised her by pouring out his liquor, ripping a nude print from the wall and declaring that he had found the Lord.
They moved to a commune in New York City’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood because Robertson said God told him to sell all his possessions and minister to the poor. He was tempted to return home to Ohio, “but I realized it wasn’t what the Lord wanted me to do… He had promised me to stay, so I did,” he told the AP .
Robertson received a master of divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then went south with his family to buy a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. He said he only had $70 in his pocket, but he soon found investors and CBN left. on the air on October 1, 1961. Established as a tax-exempt non-profit religious organization, CBN contributed hundreds of millions and disclosed $321 million in “ministry support” in 2022 alone.
One of Robertson’s innovations was to use the secular talk show format in the network’s flagship program, the “700 Club,” which grew out of a telethon when Robertson asked 700 viewers for monthly contributions of $10. It was more suitable for television than traditional revival meetings or church services, and gained a large audience.
“Here’s a well-educated person having sophisticated conversations with a wide variety of guests on a wide variety of topics,” said Green, a political science professor at the University of Akron. “It was with a religious bent, no doubt. But it was an approach that took on everyday concerns.”
His guests included several US presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
At times, his on-air statements drew criticism.
He claimed that the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001, were caused by God, angry over federal courts, pornography, abortion rights and church-state separation. Speaking again about 9/11 on his television show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that wants to “dominate” and “destroy,” causing President George W. Bush to distance himself and said that Islam is a peaceful and respectful religion. .
He called for the murder of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2005, although he later apologized.
Later that year, he warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town not to be surprised if disaster struck because they voted against school board members who favored teaching “intelligent design” over of evolution And in 1998, he said Orlando, Florida, would have to watch out for hurricanes after allowing the annual Gay Days event.
In 2014, he angered Kenyans when he warned that towels in Kenya could transmit AIDS. CBN issued a correction, saying Robertson “misspoken about the possibility of contracting AIDS through towels.”
Robertson could also be unpredictable: In 2010, he called for an end to mandatory prison sentences for marijuana possession convictions. Two years later, he told the “700 Club” that marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government’s war on drugs had failed.
Robertson condemned Democrats caught up in sex scandals, saying for example that President Bill Clinton turned the White House into a playground for sexual freedom. But he helped solidify evangelical support for Donald Trump, dismissing the candidate’s sexually predatory comments about women as an attempt. “Looks like it’s male.”
After Trump’s inauguration, Robertson interviewed the president at the White House. And CBN welcomed Trump advisers like Kellyanne Conway as guests.
But after President Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, Robertson said Trump was living in an “alternate reality” and should “move on,” the media reported.
Robertson’s son Gordon succeeded him in December 2007 as CEO of CBN, which is now based in Virginia Beach. Robertson remained president of the network and continued to appear on the “700 Club.”
Robertson stepped down as host of the show after half a century in 2021, with his son Gordon taking over the weekday show.
Robertson was also founder and chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc., parent of the basic cable television network The Family Channel. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought IFE in 1997.
Regent University, where classes began in Virginia Beach in 1978, now has more than 30,000 alumni, CBN said in a statement.
Robertson wrote 15 books, including “The Turning Tide” and “The New World Order.”
His wife Dede, who was a founding board member of CBN, he died last year at the age of 94. The couple had four children, 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, CBN said in a statement.
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Former Associated Press reporters Don Schanche and Pam Ramsey contributed to this story.
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