Christian TV preacher blames Las Vegas massacre on Trump critics 'disrespecting' him

'Profound disrespect for our President' caused worst mass shooting in US history, claims evangelist

TV preacher Pat Robertson has said the Las Vegas massacre was caused by disrespect for authority, including President Donald Trump.

Delivering a speech to camera during his Christian programme The 700 Club on Monday, the televangelist and conservative commentator blamed the mass shooting on critics of the Republican leader, along with protests during the national anthem and the country having no "vision of God".

Mr Robertson said: "Violence in the streets, ladies and gentleman — why is it happening?

"The fact that we have disrespect for authority; there is profound disrespect of our President, all across this nation.

"They say terrible things about him. It's in the news, it's in other places."

He continued: "There's disrespect now for our national anthem. Disrespect for our veterans, disrespect for the institutions or government, disrespect for the court system. All the way up and down the line — disrespect."

He also said a lack of "biblical authority" caused the atrocity, adding: "When there is no vision of God, people run amok."

At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock shot at a crowd attending the Route 91 country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel. Authorities have said they have not yet discovered a motive for the attack.

Mr Robertson is best known for claiming Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for abortion and that Haiti's 2010 earthquake was caused by a "pact to the devil". In 2015, the Republican evangelist told a mother that God allowed her son to die because he could have grown up to be the next Adolf Hitler.

Mr Trump attracted criticism in July when he agreed to be interviewed by the right-wing commentator for a programme on the The Christian Broadcasting Network.

Following the Las Vegas shooting – which was the most deadly in modern US history – right-wing fake news stories claiming that the shooter was a Democrat who opposed Mr Trump were circulated widely, boosted by Facebook and Google.

Far-right blogs falsely identified the man behind the mass killing as Geary Danley. Noting that he was a registered Democrat, they propagated conspiracy theories about the shooter holding "Trump-hating" views.