Pat Robertson, who's opposed to LGBT rights, steps down as host of '700 Club'
Thu. October 7, 2021 9:50 AM by Carlos Santoscoy
Christian conservative Pat Robertson has stepped down as host of CBN's The 700 Club.
Robertson, 91, said in a statement that he is moving on to other projects.
"Today's show will be my final as host of The 700 Club," he said on Friday. "My replacement will be my very capable son, Gordon, who will take over as full-time host of the program."
Robertson, who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), said that would continue in his roles as chancellor and CEO of Regent University.
In 1988, Robertson, a former Southern Baptist minister, unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
Last year, he backed former President Donald Trump's re-election bid.
As host of The 700 Club, he often railed against LGBT rights, including marriage equality. In one segment, he advised a mother to treat her gay son like a "drug addict."
"You cannot go along and say, 'I agree with your lifestyle,'" Robertson told the mother who wrote in asking for his advice. "So don't be an enabler, any more if he's a drug addict, you don't enable people to continue in their drug habits."
In 2014, he claimed that AIDS was God's "penalty" for "immoral" gay sex. Later that same year, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper put Robertson on his "Ridiculist" for saying people can get AIDS from towels.
"You might get AIDS in Kenya," Robertson warned a viewer worried that he might be infected with Ebola while visiting Kenya. "The people have AIDS. You got to be careful, I mean, the towels could have AIDS."
Cooper, who is openly gay, also mocked Robertson's claim of a ring that gives people AIDS.
"A ring that gives you AIDS," Cooper said. "I've never seen that particular section of Zales. Have you?"
Most recently, Robertson blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on same-sex marriage, abortion, and people who are "anti-Israel."
Robertson, 91, said in a statement that he is moving on to other projects.
"Today's show will be my final as host of The 700 Club," he said on Friday. "My replacement will be my very capable son, Gordon, who will take over as full-time host of the program."
Robertson, who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), said that would continue in his roles as chancellor and CEO of Regent University.
In 1988, Robertson, a former Southern Baptist minister, unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
Last year, he backed former President Donald Trump's re-election bid.
As host of The 700 Club, he often railed against LGBT rights, including marriage equality. In one segment, he advised a mother to treat her gay son like a "drug addict."
"You cannot go along and say, 'I agree with your lifestyle,'" Robertson told the mother who wrote in asking for his advice. "So don't be an enabler, any more if he's a drug addict, you don't enable people to continue in their drug habits."
In 2014, he claimed that AIDS was God's "penalty" for "immoral" gay sex. Later that same year, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper put Robertson on his "Ridiculist" for saying people can get AIDS from towels.
"You might get AIDS in Kenya," Robertson warned a viewer worried that he might be infected with Ebola while visiting Kenya. "The people have AIDS. You got to be careful, I mean, the towels could have AIDS."
Cooper, who is openly gay, also mocked Robertson's claim of a ring that gives people AIDS.
"A ring that gives you AIDS," Cooper said. "I've never seen that particular section of Zales. Have you?"
Most recently, Robertson blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on same-sex marriage, abortion, and people who are "anti-Israel."
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine