Robertson Apologises for Assassination Remarks

The celebrity U.S. Christian evangelical Pat Robertson apologised Wednesday for comments he made earlier in the week suggesting that the U.S. assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

“Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologise for that statement,” he said in a written statement.

Rev Robertson made the comments during Monday’s broadcast of his TV programme, “The 700 Club”. He said earlier on Wednesday, however, that he did not call for the assassination of the Venezuelan leader and that the media had taken his remarks out of context.

He said: “I didn’t say ‘assassination’. I said our special forces should ‘take him out’. And ‘take him out’ can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him.

“I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time.”

Robertson said on the Monday broadcast that Chavez was a “terrific danger” determined to export Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.

He continued: “If he [Chavez] thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.

“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. “We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.”

The TV evangelist’s comments have been met with widespread condemnation, particularly from Venezuelan officials. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel accused Robertson of inciting violence and challenged the White House to take action against him.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Robertson’s remarks were “inappropriate”. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Robertson had the right of any private citizen to say whatever he wants but added that the broadcaster’s remarks “do not represent the views of the United States”, reported Assist News.

Christian figures reacted to Robertson’s remarks with caution, the Rev. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) saying that he and “most evangelical leaders” would disassociate themselves from such “unfortunate and particularly irresponsible comments”.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the NAE, said Robertson went too far from a Christian perspective, but emphasized that the comments were made as a political commentary.

“He’s just saying from a political point of view and from a social point of view,” explained Haggard, during an interview with CNN. “He’s not speaking for evangelicalism. He’s not speaking for Christians.”

Haggard, one of Time Magazine’s top 25 evangelicals, added that the fire over the comment must be extinguished “so we don’t end up in a full-scale war.”

Geoff Tunnicliffe, the International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), also took pains to emphasize that Robertson “does not speak for evangelical Christians.”

“This kind of statement, by this well known American Christian leader, is in complete contradiction to the teachings of Jesus Christ who evangelical Christians believe and seek to demonstrate,” said Tunnicliffe. “We believe in justice and the protection of human rights of all people, including the life of President Chavez.”

Meanwhile, the Rev. Sam Olson, president of the Venezuelan Evangelical Alliance, stressed “restraint” in dealing with the comment for the sake of evangelical Christians in Latin America.

“Robertson has placed our lives in jeopardy as he has completely misrepresented us and has given our government every reason to believe we would support such an action,” said Olson, a veteran pastor of Las Acacias church in Caracas.

In a press statement, the WEA called on all people – especially those in Venezuela – to “show restraint in how they react to such a statement, knowing that it represents the opinion of one individual and not that of the hundreds of millions of evangelical Christians around the world.”

Chavez seemed undisturbed by the comments, telling reporters in Havana, where he was due to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro, that “It doesn’t matter to me”. He said, “I don’t know who that person is. As far as his opinion of me goes, I couldn’t care less”.

Robertson is founder of the conservative Christian Coalition.