Televangelist Pat Robertson wasn't blaming Haiti's catastrophic earthquake on "God's wrath," but was talking about a "widely discussed" legend that a Satanic pact aided its founding slave revolt, a spokesman said.

But the suggestion that Haiti's historic woes stem from a deal with the devil comes from a 19th-century "fabrication" meant to discredit its slave rebellion and Vodou religion, a Caribbean scholar said Thursday.

"This is a longstanding trope of anti-Haitian venom," Kate Ramsey, a researcher at the University of Miami, told CNN.

Robertson invoked the tale on his syndicated program, "The 700 Club," on Wednesday to suggest the poverty-stricken country's long history of natural disasters and political turmoil stemmed from a deal with the devil made by the leaders of its 1791 revolution against French rule.

"They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story," Robertson said. "And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "

The revolt succeeded, "but ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other," the 79-year-old Christian Coalition founder and onetime Republican presidential candidate said.

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