Mike Huckabee to Newsmax: Pat Robertson Was ‘Visionary’ Businessman

Pat Robertson, the legendary figure in American history and Christian broadcasting whose death at age 93 was announced Thursday, was underappreciated for his business acumen, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Newsmax.

“He lived a life that was exemplary on a personal level,” Huckabee told “John Bachman Now.” “He was a visionary, and he also was underappreciated for his business savvy. This is a guy who created something out of nothing when he created the first … Christian network for television.”

Robertson gathered what little money he had and bought a rundown TV station in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1960, and a year later, the Christian Broadcasting Network began, the first TV station in the U.S. licensed to broadcast 50% or more religious programming, according to CBN’s website.

“And he started just really almost with, you know, duct tape and baling wire,” Huckabee said. “But pretty soon he had the cutting-edge technology that the networks frankly envied. He had the finest equipment, the most up-to-date signal, everything about what he did he did it with class and distinction. It wasn’t opulent, but it was elegant.”

Robertson also founded Regent University, a private Christian school in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1977, which Huckabee said, “produced some extraordinary scholars.”

“Pat Robertson had a real touch and an entrepreneurial capacity that most people did not understand,” Huckabee said. “All they saw was the television talk show host. But behind that was an extraordinary visionary who also created the Christian Coalition, which was largely responsible for organizing Christian believers to get involved in civics.”

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