Television evangelist and ultraconservative Pat Robertson doesn't think General David Petraeus should be condemned for his affair with writer Paula Broadwell. After all, she is "an extremely good looking woman" and "he's a man."
Robertson excused CIA Director Petraeus for the extramarital affair with his biographer, Broadwell, on Monday's episode of "The 700 Club," the flagship program of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
"Who knows?" he said. "The man's off in a foreign land and he's lonely and here's a good looking lady throwing herself at him. I mean, he's a man."
He also alluded to Broadwell's wiles. "She is an extremely good looking woman. She is a marathon runner. She runs Iron Man triathlons. So she's out running with him and writing a biography. I think the term is 'propinquity.'"
General Petraeus, one of America's most decorated four-star generals, resigned Friday after an F.B.I. investigation uncovered evidence that he and Broadwell had an affair, beginning last September, according to the Associated Press. The general issued a statement admitting his wrongdoing: “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”
Petraeus has been married to Holly Petraeus for 37 years. Broadwell is married to a doctor and has two children.
As for the 82-year-old Robertson, who campaigned for Mitt Romney in Virginia, he has made headlines lately for some other eyebrow-raising comments.
Last week, Robertson expressed shock that woman watch porn and read erotica like "Fifty Shades of Grey," saying he "always thought this was a male thing, a boy thing, a guy thing." In September, he advised a "700 Club" viewer who felt disrespected at home to become a Muslim so "then you could beat your wife."
[h/t Gawker for the find.]
Check out more of Pat Robertson's "Greatest Hits" below.
