How bad does a Republican senator have to screw up to draw an on-air condemnation from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson?
Evidently, he has to appear both self-serving and hypocritical.
The target of Carlson’s ire is Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolin, the subject of twin exposes by ProPublica and NPR. The pieces showed how Burr painted a far more negative picture of the coronavirus’ impacts in private than he did in public, and how he spared his nest egg from the carnage on Wall Street with some well-timed stock sales.
Burr has defended his actions and called on the Senate Ethics Committee to look at his stock trades.
If you haven’t read the work done by ProPublica and NPR, you should. Pro Publica reported that Burr – the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which was receiving early briefings on the coronavirus threat – sold up to $1.7 million worth of stocks shortly before the intensifying outbreak sent the markets into free fall. NPR, meanwhile, obtained a recording of Burr, who had publicly played down the risks, privately telling influential constituents that the virus was going to be far more disruptive than the Trump administration was letting on at that point.