LOS ANGELES — Televangelist Pat Robertson made headlines Tuesday for two vastly different reasons. Reason No. 1: He wants to decriminalize marijuana. Reason No. 2: He says the tornadoes that have devastated parts of the Midwest could have been prevented if enough people had prayed.

Robertson made both comments during recent airings of his “700 Club.” The televangelist said “liberals” are to blame for punitive marijuana laws.

“I just think it’s shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance,” he said, according to a transcript of the show obtained by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and posted online. “It’s time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana.”

Robertson was denounced in other circles for his comments about the destructive tornadoes that roared through the Midwest and the South last week, killing dozens. Robertson was asked, “Why did God send the tornadoes?”

“God didn’t send the tornadoes,” he said. “If enough people were praying, He would intervene. You could pray. Jesus stilled the storm. You could still storms.”

Residents in Georgia said they were offended by the remarks.

“Personally, I thank God that I’m alive and that the damage wasn’t greater,” David Wilson told Fox 5 news station. “I think that my neighbors are safe and not harmed in any way, although they’ve lost quite a bit of property. But this weather, I can’t say this is God’s fault.”

Over the years, Robertson has suggested that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were God’s punishment for the U.S. toleration of homosexuality.