Pat Robertson: Obama Has A Muslim 'Inclination'

Televangelist Pat Robertson revived conspiratorial talk about President Obama's childhood Thursday, claiming that he was driven by some sort of Muslim inclination because of his upbringing in Indonesia.

"They say he's going back to the place that he spent his childhood, he spent four years in Indonesia, I don't know if he was trained in a madrassa, one of those Muslim schools, but nevertheless that is his inclination," Robertson claimed, during a discussion about Obama attending the ASEAN conference in Indonesia. "His father was a Kenyan socialist and he talks about the roots of his father. So he's got an African and an Indonesian background. I don't know what his mother was doing; she just sort of flitted around. But nevertheless, this may give him a warped perspective of what needs to be done to make America the greatest nation on earth."

These claims about the religious nature of his schools have been debunked. In fact, according to a New York Times report, one school he attended was Roman Catholic, while the other was a prestigious and wealthy primary school founded by Dutch colonialists. Obama has also frequently repeated that he is a Christian who attends church.

Robertson has never shied away from controversial statements about Obama or Islam, but last month it looked like he might have turned over a new leaf in this regard, advising GOP presidential candidates not to chase divisive ideas, lest they make themselves easy for Obama to defeat in 2012.

"Those people in the Republican primary have got to lay off of this stuff," he said. "If they want to lose, this is the game for losers."

If he wanted them to tone down the extreme rhetoric and step back from polarizing ideas, it looks like he's not leading by example.

Video above via Right Wing Watch.