RFK Jr. Says He Bought GameStop to ‘Punish Predator Short Selling to the Moon’ – Decrypt

As crypto policy increasingly divides political parties, U.S. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—better known as RFK—is now touting his love for meme stocks.

In a Wednesday Twitter post, the independent candidate said that he had bought $24,000 in GameStop stock as a way to “punish predatory short selling.” 

GameStop (NYSE:GME) is a video game retailer which first made headlines in 2021 when amateur traders started buying its stock and pumping its price. It made a comeback last week after the trader that started the 2021 buying frenzy, known as Roaring Kitty, posted online for the first time in nearly three years. 

“We need a free and fair market,” RFK tweeted. “Let’s punish predatory short-selling to the moon. By the way, I ride with you and I’m not leaving.”

He added: “My administration will support the Ape retail rebellion and enact aggressive Wall Street reforms.”

RFK was referring to the Wall Street firms that had initially shorted GameStop stock, betting that its price would go down. The 2021 trading frenzy aimed to stymie this strategy, and promote investing among ordinary citizens. 

Roaring Kitty—real name Keith Gill—urged people to invest. The craze eventually led to Wall Street chaos due to shares suddenly going up in value. 

Despite this, it has since been revealed that major Wall Street firms such as BlackRock and Vanguard held GameStop shares and may have raked in billions of dollars as a result. 

Such investments are now known as meme stocks—shares of companies made popular on Internet forums. Meme stocks later led to a surge in popularity in cryptocurrencies known as meme coins.

Both meme coins and stocks shot up in value last week following Roaring Kitty’s return, with some investors making huge gains. 

Crypto has becoming an increasingly pivotal issue in politics, with Trump stepping up his courtship of cryptocurrency holders and U.S. President Joe Biden finding himself at odds with some in his own party over federal regulation of the space.

RFK is not a newcomer to the space, and aligned himself with the digital asset industry in the past. He previously said he wants the U.S. dollar and Treasury Bills to be backed by Bitcoin, and vowed to put the U.S. budget on the blockchain if elected.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.