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Pat Robertson Comments on Orlando Shooting

Television evangelist Pat Robertson made controversial comments about Muslim and gay communities just after the Orlando shooting.

Published June 15, 2016

On 14 June 2016, television evangelist Pat Robertson commented on the mass shooting in Orlando during an episode of his show The 700 Club:

“We’re looking at a favored group by the left, the homosexuals, and that in Islam is punishable by death or imprisonment or some sanction, so what are the left going to do?…In the meantime, Donald Trump is riding high because he said we should screen these people and he’s absolutely right. We should screen them. So the left is saying, ‘Oh you’re anti-Muslim, you’re racist’ and all this. Suddenly, that part of the narrative doesn’t play too well and they’re stuck as to what to do. But Trump is enjoying a victory.”

Robertson's main talking point appeared to center around the claim that the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando punched a hole in the left's "narrative" concerning LGBT and Muslim communities.

Robertson also criticized President Obama and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for not using the term "radical Islam." While Robertson did not offer a solution (or clearly describe a problem), he did suggest that those who disagree with "the left's" policies should sit on the sidelines and "let them kill themselves":

For our president to refuse to acknowledge it, when the Democratic nominee refuses to acknowledge and says that this a slur against a quote "great religion." It's nonsense. That's what this "great religion" teaches. And it's right in the word of Islam. Whether you like it or not that's the way it is. So the left is having a dilemma of major proportions. And for those of us who disagree with some of their policies, the best thing to do is just sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves.

The reaction of some observers of his comments was to express concerns about Robertson's health.  Meanwhile, a satirical article containing a fake quote from the evangelist was published shortly before Robertson made his actual comments.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.