Phil Robertson, the bearded patriarch of the family from A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” derided “hippies” for the spread of sexually transmitted infections in a colorful speech Friday at the Conservative Action Political Conference.
“What do you call the 110 million people who have sexually transmitted illnesses?” he asked the crowd. “It’s the revenge of the hippies! Sex, drugs and rock and roll have come back to haunt us, in a bad way!”
{mosads}Robertson spoke at the conference after he accepted a free speech award named for Andrew Breitbart, the conservative media icon who died in 2012.
The television star was suspended from his show in 2013 after he gave an interview to GQ Magazine that included a slew of homophobic remarks. The network ultimately reversed his suspension, but politicians rushed to Robertson’s defense and called the saga an infringement on his freedom of speech.
His remarks on Friday mostly touched on sexually transmitted infections.
“You’re disease free, and she’s disease free, you marry. You keep your sex right there. You won’t get sick from a sexually transmitted disease! C’mon!”
After the outcry over Robertson’s suspension, then-Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) invited Robertson’s son, Willie, to the 2014 State of the Union address.