http://mediamatters.org/items/200508240005
Robertson lies about his Chavez comments; claims he "didn't say
'assassination' "
Responding on the August 24 broadcast of The 700 Club to the outcry
over his August 22 comments calling for the assassination of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Pat Robertson falsely denied that he
used the word "assassination" and claimed that he was "misinterpreted"
by the Associated Press, which first reported the story following
Media Matters for America's posting of the transcript and video clip
of his comments. http://mediamatters.org/brief/pat+robertson
Robertson claimed that what he had said on August 22 was that the U.S.
should "take him [Chavez] out," adding that "there are a number of
ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him."
In fact, Robertson did use the word "assassination" in the August 22
broadcast and said, "[I]f he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I
think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."
Robertson issued his denial during an interview with former
ambassador-at-large for the Republic of Venezuela and outspoken Chavez
critic Thor Halvorssen on the August 24 broadcast of Christian
Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:
HALVORSSEN:
Now, I think that it's very important to also note your comments were
about assassination. The person -- I think that alternative is
lowering to his level.
ROBERTSON:
Wait a minute, I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces
should, quote, "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, but that happens all the time.
HALVORSSEN:
Well, he in fact tried to use that. Chavez, in 1992, attempted to
assassinate the democratically elected President Carlos Andrés Pérez
and his family and he failed, and for that he went to jail. The person
who began this, who started the concept of assassination for political
reasons, was in fact Hugo Chavez, and his foreign minister is a former
guerrilla terrorist. They basically have no standing to criticize
anyone who made remarks that like -- you know, that were
misinterpreted like the ones you made.
In fact, Robertson explicitly called for Chavez's assassination on the
August 22 broadcast of The 700 Club:
ROBERTSON:
You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he
thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought
to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.
And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a
terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence,
so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have
other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is
a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that
could hurt us very badly. 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, you know, 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.
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