On the April 28 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's (CBN) The 700 Club, host Pat Robertson referred to Islam as a “bloody, brutal type of religion.” Following a report suggesting that those who convert from Islam could face hardships and even death sentences in some Middle Eastern countries, Robertson expressed concern that Americans, “especially the American left,” need to “wake up” to the “danger” that Islam presents. He said that, in the past, Muslim invaders would kill “an unbeliever” if they would not convert to Islam and that today, “if somebody wants to leave Islam, they're going to kill them.” Robertson continued: “Whoever heard of such a bloody, bloody, brutal type of religion? But that's what it is. It is not a religion of peace.”

Robertson has frequently asserted that “Islam is not a religion of peace,” as he did in the April 28 broadcast. For instance, as Media Matters for America previously noted, Robertson made similar comments on April 24 when he warned his viewers that “we are not listening” to what Islam “says,” just as we did not listen to “what Adolf Hitler said in Mein Kampf.” On a March 13 broadcast, Robertson declared that Muslims who protested controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad were “satanic” and “crazed fanatics” who were “motivated by demonic power.” On the July 14, 2005, broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson blurred the distinction between radical Islamists and the Muslim community at large, claiming that Islam instructs its followers to commit acts of terrorism. Robertson stated: “Islam, at least at its core, teaches violence. It's there in the Quran in clear, bold statements.” According to the Associated Press, during a 2002 broadcast of the program, Robertson declared that Islam “is not a peaceful religion that wants to coexist. They want to coexist until they can control, dominate and then, if need be, destroy.”

Robertson has also made other controversial remarks, such as calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at least twice ; proclaiming that then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was the result of Sharon's policy of withdrawal from the Gaza Strip; and suggesting that God would punish Disney World's annual Gay Days festivities by bringing “destruction of your nation” through “earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.”

From the April 28 edition of The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what it's going to take to wake up the American, especially the American left, to the danger that Islam faces, or presents to all of us. But here's what Muhammad said, he said, “If you find an unbeliever and he will submit to Islam and pay alms, then let him go in peace. If not, kill him.” So, in other words, when they were taking over a country, people were forced to convert to Islam under the penalty of death. And now, on the other hand, they say if somebody wants to leave Islam, they're going to kill them on the other side. Who ever heard of such a bloody, bloody, brutal type of religion? But that's what it is. It is not a religion of peace. Islam means submission. Submission to the Quran, to Muhammad, to the quote, “will of Allah, as revealed by Muhammad.” And the penalty of not submitting is death. A penalty of leaving, in many of these countries, as [700 Club correspondent] Erick Stakelbeck has so eloquently shown, is also death.