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Pat Robertson Resigns As The 700 Club Host After 60 Years of TV Ministry

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


America’s longest-running TV host Pat Robertson is stepping away after 60 years of hosting The 700 Club.

Robertson announced that “Today’s show will be my final as host of The 700 Club. My replacement will be my very capable son, Gordon, who will take over as full-time host of the program.”

Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960, which has become incredibly popular over the years.

He was also a major supporter of President Donald Trump, where he interviewed him a few years ago and even predicted he would win the 2020 election.

Robertson spoke very highly of Trump last October.

“First of all, I want to say without question, Trump is going to win the election. What I think very frankly is the only thing that will fulfill the word of Jesus … is some kind of asteroid strike on the globe,’’ he said. “It’s sudden destruction. It’s not going to be some nuclear war. We’re not going to be allowed to blow this earth up.’’

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“Robertson has interviewed several presidents, including Trump, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Gerald Ford. He also founded Regent University, where he still teaches his political Christian worldview, and the American Center for Law and Justice,” Forbes reported.

CBN News reported:

Starting in October, he will appear on a monthly, interactive episode of The 700 Club, to answer viewer emails. He will also remain available for occasional broadcast appearances as a senior consultant on international affairs.

Robertson looks forward to devoting his energy and experience full-time to helping train and equip members of the 11,000-strong student body of Regent University as they are preparing to become “Christian Leaders to Change the World”.

In hosting the Christian Broadcasting Network’s flagship program for decades, Pat Robertson has shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with millions of viewers. He has worked to bring the hope of Christ to America and the world through inspiring testimonies of the Holy Spirit’s power and firsthand accounts of lives touched by the generosity of CBN partners, through disaster relief efforts and aid for others in need.

Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, took to Twitter after the news to praise Robinson.

“Today Pat Robertson celebrated 60 yrs of the Christian Broadcasting Network—& announced that, at 91, he would no longer be hosting @700Club. Thank you Pat, for your faithfulness, life, & the impact you’ve had on our nation. May God continue to bless you!” he wrote.

“Pat Robertson’s CBN had an audience of 17 million at its peak in the 1980s which, for sake of comparison, is as many as Rush Limbaugh had at his peak 20 years later,” said Mr. Matzko, author of “The Radio Right,” a history of conservative-focused religious broadcasting.

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Matzko said Robertson represented “a large group of religious conservatives who were alienated from what was changing about society in the 1960s and 70s, who didn’t feel represented and what they saw and heard on the airwaves, who felt alienated from America’s governing and social institutions. And he spoke to them.”

“He‘s been doing live television now for 60 years,” Gordon Robertson said. “And he thought on the 60th anniversary, it would be good for him to lay most of that burden now.”

Michael Longinow, chair of the department of digital journalism at Biola University, said Robertson used a magnetic personality and an ability to raise a lot of money at CBN “for Pentecostal Christians, and Christians of all kinds, to go to and find a sense of identity.”

“Because Pat had the ability to bring in money — ginormous amounts of money — he invested in the highest-tech gear out there, and it allowed CBN to have a technical quality to show viewers they had the chops,” Longinow said.

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