WATCH: Anderson Cooper mocks Pat Robertson's gay-AIDS-rings conspiracy theory
CNN's Silver Fox isn't alone. Even Robertson's own Christian Broadcasting Network apparently thinks its founder went too far...
On Tuesday's 700 Club, televangelist Pat Robertson made this rather surprising pronouncement to co-host Terry Meeuwsen:
The Christian Broadcasting Network, which Robertson launched in 1961, apparently thought its 83-year-old founding patriarch went a little too far, editing that section out of the online broadcast of the show and scrambling to remove all versions from YouTube, according to Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch — which was kind enough to save the clip for posterity.
"It's ironic that Robertson believes that gay people are trying to censor him with hate speech laws," said Tashman, "when it appears that the only people trying to censor Robertson are his own staff at CBN."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
CNN's Anderson Cooper certainly isn't trying to censor Robertson. In fact, he singled out the AIDS rings bit for his "RidicuList" segment on Wednesday night. (Watch above.) Cooper noted that Robertson did kind of attempt to walk back his comments — here's the televangelist's complete statement to The Atlantic:
Robertson's critics were unimpressed. Nice try, said Steve Benen at MSNBC's Maddow Blog. But "there is no context in which it makes sense to accuse gay people in San Francisco of deliberately cutting others in the hopes of deliberately spreading the AIDS virus."
Cooper wasn't buying it, either. In a sarcastic takedown, Cooper compared Robertson to a crazy old uncle you only see at Thanksgiving, cracked a couple of jokes about rings and gay marriage, then said he's surprised the televangelist stepped in it with this "baffling" claim, because normally "Robertson's thoughts on gay issues are well-thought-out and very well-articulated." Cooper went on to play a greatest hits of Robertson's past statements not only on gay issues, but also marriage, adultery, and the various activities tied to demonic possession.
Cooper didn't bother explicitly pointing out that Robertson's theory about gay AIDS rings is ungrounded in fact. The Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta took care of that. Gay advice columnist Dan Savage once said he tried to give anti-gay activist Gary Bauer the flu by licking cups and doorknobs in Bauer's office, she noted, "but there's no record of anyone trying to deliberately infect someone like Robertson with HIV."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"Maybe a security guard gave Robertson false information about gay men in San Francisco back in the deeply homophobic 1980s, and Robertson believed it all these years because it jibed with his suspicious view of gays," Franke-Ruta suggested. But whatever caused his confused ramblings, "someone needs to sit down with Pat Robertson and let him know that his views in 2013 don't sound conservative — they sound like he has lost touch with the world as it is."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 15, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - flamingos in flight, taxes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump's first criminal trial starts with jury picks
Speed Read The former president faces charges related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published