LGBT rights advocate GLAAD on Thursday
criticized President Donald Trump for an interview with televangelist
Pat Robertson, saying it proves that Trump is not an ally to the LGBT
community.
During the interview, Trump told
Robertson, the host of CBN's The 700 Club, that America was
“going in the wrong direction” on the issue of religious liberty.
“And by the way, what they were doing
to religious liberty – they were destroying religious liberty. You
will be saying 'Merry Christmas' again very soon,” Trump said.
GLAAD denounced the one-on-one
interview in a press release.
“Today’s interview with anti-LGBTQ
activist Pat Robertson should be the last straw for anyone leaving
hope that President Trump would be an ally to LGBTQ people,” said
Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD.
“Trump refused to speak out about
LGBTQ Pride Month or against the atrocities facing gay men in
Chechnya in favor of today using the office of the President to give
credibility to a debunked TV personality with a long history of
peddling vile inaccuracies and salacious insults that harm LGBTQ
people. As anti-LGBTQ activists like Robertson get the red-carpet
treatment at the White House, LGBTQ people must stay visible and
fight back against all those seeking to erase our hard-fought
progress,” she added.
(Related: Pat
Robertson: “Vicious” gay people deliberately spread HIV with
special rings.)