Media Matters calls on ABC Family to discontinue Robertson broadcasts

Following his August 22 call for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Media Matters for America is urging ABC Family to stop showing Pat Robertson's The 700 Club. ABC Family shows The 700 Club three times a day.

Robertson, 700 Club host and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, has a history of vitriolic and false statements, as Media Matters has pointed out.

In addition to urging the assassination of a foreign leader, Robertson has blamed gays for divorce, abortion, and September 11th, said that a gay-oriented event would bring about “terrorist bombs ... earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor,” and stated that liberal judges are a bigger threat to society than Al Qaeda.

“Robertson's vitriol is not appropriate for children, or for anyone else, for that matter. His calls for the killing of a foreign leader certainly do not belong on a television channel that purports to offer family-friendly programming,” said Media Matters for America President and CEO David Brock.