Why Glenn Beck Says God Let Antonin Scalia Die
Nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck was absent from his show Tuesday while traveling, but he apparently kept track of what his team was up to in his absence.
The topic turned to the death of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. Pat Gray, one Beck’s usual co-hosts said he wondered why God would choose now to take the jurist home.
“I couldn’t help, but wonder, why? Why now? Why did You have to take Antonin now?” he asked. A short time later, Beck called into his own program to offer an answer:
“I just woke the American people up. I took them out of the game show moment and woke enough of them up to say, ‘Look how close your liberty is to being lost,'” Beck said, pretending to use God’s voice, before offering his personal analysis. “The Constitution is hanging by a thread. That thread has just been cut. And the only way that we survive now is if we have a true constitutionalist (as president).”
Beck has endorsed Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the former Texas Solicitor General who clerked for Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Several media outlets then conflated the radio host’s comments to mean he thought “God killed Scalia to help Cruz.”
He quickly put that rumor to bed Wednesday on social media:
“As I am driving to the airport to come home (and) I check the news. Apparently the [mainstream media] is reporting that I said ‘God killed Scalia to help Ted Cruz.’ Outrageous.
“What I did say is ‘perhaps God allowed Scalia to die at this time to wake America up to how close we are to the loss of our freedom.’ I happen to believe in divine providence. Americans historically have. Maybe you do not. That is your choice, and I do not mock you for not. Why mock me for believing in a traditional view of God?
“Maybe He did, maybe He didn’t. Are we awake to our sorry state? I am not sure. If the freedom that we are about to lose belongs to God for future generations, it would only make sense that He would try to wake us. No?
“He gives us free choice. Who He wants as president I do not know. What path He wants America to take to best preserve His rights and roles for us, I do not know.
“The event is in the hand of God. No matter how the press wants to twist my words or meaning, I stand by we need to be awakened.”
