Glenn Beck sparks fury by comparing victims of horrific Norway shooting to Hitler Youth

By Fiona Roberts
Updated:


Fury: Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck compared the young victims of the Norway shooting to the Hitler Youth

Fury: Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck compared the young victims of the Norway shooting to the Hitler Youth

Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck has sparked outrage by comparing the 68 young victims of the horrific shooting on the Norwegian island of Utoya to the Hitler Youth.

Speaking on his radio programme yesterday, he said the teenagers attending the Labour youth camp on the idyllic island were like the Nazi leader's infamous young followers, and branded any kind of political trip for youngsters as 'disturbing'.

Yet the Tea Party darling is the man behind the 9/12 Project, an organisation which runs politically-minded camps for young people across the U.S.

Described as 'a new low' by a former press secretary to Norway's prime minister, the comments come just days after 76 people died in Oslo and Utoya in a double attack by far-right extremist Anders Breivik.

Beck said: 'As the thing started to unfold and there was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like the Hitler Youth. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing.'

On Friday, 68 children and teenagers died on the island of Utoya, where they were attending a camp which has been run by Norway's Labour Party for more than 60 years.

Tragedy: People in the town of Namsos gather to remember the 76 people who died during the shooting on Utoya and the bombing in Oslo

Tragedy: People in the town of Namsos gather to remember the 76 people who died during the shooting on Utoya and the bombing in Oslo

After making the controversial comments, Beck was at pains to point out he hadn't blamed the shooting on Islamic extremists when the news first broke.

Condemning Breivik as a 'mad man', he said: 'There is no difference between him and the 9/11 bombers. No difference. He is just as bad as Osama Bin Laden. Period.'

But he said he had predicted last year Europe 'is going to go into problems with radical Islam.'

Citing Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, he said: 'Political correctness and multiculturalism is killing Europe, and he's right.'

Grief: Young survivors of the shooting on the island of Utoya break down

Grief: Young survivors of the shooting on the island of Utoya break down

Yet despite his condemnation of youth political camps, chapters of the 9/12 Project - which he founded in 2009 - are organising politically-minded camps for children across the country.

The Colorado chapter ran a Patriot Camp for children in grades 1-5 earlier this month, which featured programs on 'our Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the values and principles that are the cornerstones of our nation.'

Torbjørn Eriksen, a former press secretary to Norway's prime minister, described the remarks as a 'new low'.

Atrocity: Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik leaves the Oslo courthouse in a police car yesterday

Atrocity: Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik leaves the Oslo courthouse in a police car yesterday

He told the Daily Telegraph: 'Young political activists have gathered at Utoya for over 60 years to learn about and be part of democracy, the very opposite of what the Hitler Youth was about.

'Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful.'

It's not the first time Beck has sparked fury after a national disaster. Just days after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, he said it might have been a 'message' from God.



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