'He must resign from the Senate': Fox News host demands Richard Burr's ouster after bombshell report suggests he dumped $1.72 million in stocks before coronavirus crisis
- Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson responded to a bombshell ProPublica's report indicating that Republican Sen. Richard Burr dumped his stock holdings after he gave glowing remarks about the emerging coronavirus.
- If Burr does not explain himself, Carlson said, "he must resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading."
- "There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis," Carlson added.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A bombshell report indicating Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina had dumped his stock holdings after he gave glowing remarks about the emerging coronavirus caused outrage from politicians and pundits, including at Fox News.
Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson on Thursday responded to the findings from ProPublica's report on Burr's trading activity, which has since come under intense scrutiny and bipartisan condemnation.
Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, began unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million in stock holdings starting on February 13, despite claiming in a co-authored Fox News opinion column six days prior that the "United States today is better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats, like the coronavirus."
Carlson said that although Burr may have "an honest explanation" for his actions, the onus was on the longtime Republican lawmaker to quickly provide an answer for the public.
"He had inside information about what could happen to our country, which is now happening, but he didn't warn the public," Carlson said. "He didn't give a prime time address, he didn't go on television to sound the alarm, he didn't even disavow an op-ed he'd written just ... days before. He didn't do any of those things."
"Instead, what did he do? He dumped his shares in hotel stocks so he wouldn't lose money," Carlson added. "And then he stayed silent. Maybe there's an honest explanation for what he did. If there is, he should share it with the rest of us immediately."
If Burr does not explain himself, Carlson said, "he must resign from the Senate and face prosecution for insider trading."
"There is no greater moral crime than betraying your country in a time of crisis," Carlson added.
Contrary to Burr's optimistic response to the coronavirus pandemic, he also warned to members of a private club of donors that the coronavirus "is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything we have seen in recent history" and that it was "probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic."
Burr gave his alarmist message nearly two weeks before the State Department warned travelers about visiting Europe.
"Every company should be cognizant of the fact that you may have to alter your travel," Burr said in a February 27 recording obtained by NPR. "You may have to look at your employees and judge whether the trip they're making to Europe is essential or whether it could be done on video conference. Why risk it?"
Burr did not adequately respond to multiple media inquiries on ProPublica's report. His spokesperson said in a statement that the senator "filed a financial disclosure form for personal transactions made several weeks before the US and financial markets showed signs of volatility due to the growing coronavirus outbreak."
He did respond to NPR's reporting, which was published prior to ProPublica's, and characterized it as a "tabloid-style hit piece" on Twitter.
In a separate Daily Beast report, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, a member of the Senate Health Committee, was also scrutinized for unloading hundreds of thousands of dollars - and upwards of up to over $3 million - worth of stocks between January and February.
Loeffler reportedly unloaded the first tranche of stocks with her husband on January 24, the same day she attended a private briefing with Trump administration health officials, including the CDC director.