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Glenn Beck joined others in shock over the Notre Dame fire but speculated that if it had been “started by Islamists” it would probably be kept “quiet.”
The conservative commentator and radio host weighed in during “The News and Why It Matters” on the catastrophic fire which destroyed much of the historic cathedral in Paris on Monday.
“If this was arson this is going to be bad,” he said.
The structure and iconic towers of the 850-year-old church were saved by firefighters after hours of battling the blaze which destroyed the building’s roof and collapsed its spire. Officials were ruling out arson and initially believed the fire was related to renovations being undertaken at the cathedral.
“If this was arson of any foreign kind of — any foreign entity, anybody with a grudge, I think if — and this is a huge ‘if,’ it might have just been started by a cigarette, we don’t know,” Beck said on the Blaze TV show Monday.
“But if this was started by Islamists, I don’t think you’ll find out about it, because I think it would set the entire country on fire. They’ve had killings, they’ve had mass shootings, they’ve had people running people down in the streets—the tension is very high,” he added.
Similar speculation was downplayed on Fox News when Neil Cavuto shut down Catholic League president Bill Donohue who brought up recent attacks on Catholic churches in Paris. Fox News anchor Shepard Smith also ended a phone call from Philippe Karsenty, a French media analyst who suggested the blaze may not have been an accident.
Cavuto, Shep Smith hang up on experts suggesting Notre Dame fire could relate to spree of church attacks in France: ‘No, sir, we’re not doing that here …’ https://t.co/KRBXeCRKSm
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) April 16, 2019