Zoom Image

Pat Robertson with former US President Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign

Photo: Joshua Roberts / REUTERS

With his extreme positions on abortion and homosexuality, Pat Robertson put the concerns of the Christian right at the center of Republican politics. Now the influential US television preacher has died at the age of 93. As the television company he founded, Christian Broadcasting Network, announced, he died at his home in Virginia Beach on the Atlantic coast.

As an important representative of the Christian right, Robertson helped evangelicals gain political power in the United States. He was also known for provocative statements and extreme positions, including against abortion and homosexuals. He caused outrage after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when he agreed with Pastor Jerry Falwell, who had said that "pagans, abortion advocates, feminists, gays and lesbians" were partly responsible for the attacks because they had turned God against the United States.

Born in 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, the son of a politician, Robertson built an evangelical television empire in the sixties and seventies. On television, he hosted the famous talk show »The 700 Club«, among others.

Robertson became increasingly politically active over the years. In 1988, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination, but dropped out of the race early.

Mobilization of evangelical Christians

The televangelist also founded the conservative organization Christian Coalition, which was instrumental in politically mobilizing evangelical Christians. Evangelicals are now an important and influential group of voters who contributed to Republican Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election. Trump's then-vice president and current Republican primary, Mike Pence, is an evangelical Christian.

Robertson interviewed Trump in 2017. The then president said of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin: "I think we get along very, very well." Robertson was also the founder of Regent University in Virginia Beach.

col/AFP