“Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson spoke Thursday at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans telling the GOP to “get Godly” and referred to statements from the White House as “evil.”
“You can’t be right for America if you’re wrong with God,” Robertson said, according to The Times-Picayune. “If you want to turn the Republican party around, get godly,” he told an approving crowd.
Speaking about President Obama, Robertson said “We’re up against evil like I’ve never seen in my life. I’m sitting here and I’m thinking, ‘What’s coming out of the White House?’” he said. “The only thing I can tell you folks is it’s downright embarrassing.”
Robertson also spoke out against racism.
“There’s one race on this planet, and it’s called the human race,” he said. “Therefore you have no right to color-code anyone. We’re all the same family.”
He later joked, “I guess the GOP may be more desperate than I thought to call somebody like me.”
Robertson, a self-described “Bible Thumper” was suspended from the hit reality television show in December for remarks he gave in an interview to GQ about gays.
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he said. “It seems like, to me, a vagina – as a man – would be more desirable than a man’s anus.”
The comments were immediately criticized by GLAAD and other groups. He also had supporters behind him.
Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin posted a photo on her Facebook page with Robertson with the caption, “Free speech is an endangered species. Those ‘intolerants’ hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.”
Robertson also received support from his home state (filmed in Monroe, Louisiana) governor Bobby Jindal. “Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with,” Jindal said in a statement. “I acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views… It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended.”
After his speech at the conference, Robertson spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that controversy about his comments on homosexuality “goes with the territory” of spreading Christianity.
“I would never judge or condemn anyone… I just give them the good news,” Robertson said. “My message is always the same – ‘God loves you and sent Jesus to die for you.’”
[Image via Associated Press}