Blaze Media host Glenn Beck said the devastating fire the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was France’s “World Trade Center moment” during his program’s commentary segment on Monday.
“This is their 9/11,” Beck said. “This is a world landmark and probably, next to the Eiffel Tower, the most iconic building in all of France, and more important than the Eiffel Tower.”
{mosads}Beck also speculated that the fire may have been intentionally set by “Islamists,” despite fire officials ruling out arson.
There has been no evidence presented to link the fire to any sort of terrorist threat. But Beck argued that if there were it would be kept “quiet.”
“If this was arson this is going to be bad,” he said. “It might have just been started by a cigarette, we don’t know. 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.”
“This is their World Trade Center moment, and if this was done by terrorists I think that they will keep it quiet,” Beck added.
One firefighter was injured but no one else was hurt in the fire, according to Reuters.
The commentary from Beck comes four months after TheBlaze and CRTV have merged to create Blaze Media.
TheBlaze was founded by Beck, a former Fox News host, in 2011 not long after parting ways with the network, while CRTV was founded in 2014 by current Fox News host Mark Levin, who also hosts a nationally syndicated radio program.
Beck’s comments have resulted in blowback on Twitter, resulting in him trending on the platform on Tuesday: