Pat Robertson, the soft-spoken televangelist who helped make America's Christians a powerful political force while demonizing liberals, feminists, and gays as sinners, died Thursday at the age of 93, his organization announced.

The longtime host of "The 700 Club" on his huge Christian Broadcasting Network and one-time presidential candidate died at his home in Virginia Beach, according to a network statement.

Robertson promoted "a worldview that believes in the inerrancy of the Bible," CBN said.

"Today, his influence and legacy crisscross interests and industries that have broken barriers for countless Christian leaders and laypeople."

Broadcasting "The 700 Club" daily since 1966, the avuncular Robertson promoted a literal belief in "end of times" prophecies of the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel that forecast the destruction of the world to become a Christian paradise.

In practice, he advocated for an extremely conservative Christianity focused on "traditional" families and a country founded on the Bible, rejecting the longstanding US principle of separation of church and state.

He defined the world as riven by an epochal fight between Islam and Christianity, and meanwhile spearheaded US Christian support for Israel as the land of the "chosen" Jewish people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once called Robertson "a tremendous friend of Israel and a tremendous friend of mine."

But he also drew loathing from progressives with his condemnations of feminism and LQBTQ culture as destroying America.

His powerful support in 2016 for Donald Trump — arguably helping seal Trump's presidential victory — further widened the cultural chasm dividing the country.

Marine, lawyer, minister

Robertson was born on 22 March 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, the son of a conservative Democratic member of the US House of Representatives and then the Senate for 34 years.