Lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced via his X account the purchase of GameStop Corporation (NYSE:GME) shares Tuesday, joining the meme stock movement by retail traders that gained steam in 2021 and was renewed with a return of Roaring Kitty on social media.
What Happened: Meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) saw a surge in interest and volatility last week after Roaring Kitty, aka Keith Gill, made a return to social media platform X.
On Tuesday, the 2024 presidential candidate posted that he bought $24,000 in GameStop shares to support the movement.
"I'm very aware of what the average retail investors has been saying about the need for greater transparency in our markets, stronger regulatory oversight and tougher penalties for market manipulation and criminal behavior," Kennedy tweeted.
Benzinga reached out to Kennedy Jr.'s campaign team on the validity of the tweet and has not heard back as of the time of publication.
The tweet showed a picture of Kennedy running for office in the 2024 election with the caption "Apes Together Strong" resembling a movie poster.
"My administration will support the Ape retail rebellion and enact aggressive Wall Street reforms. To match action with words, I just invested $24,000 in GameStop from the fees I earned from suing Monsanto for their knowingly poisoning our soil and causing cancer."
Kennedy said we need to make a "free and fair market" and he loves the thought of making Monsanto support GameStop and the Apes.
"Let's punish predatory short selling to the moon. By the way, I ride with you and I'm not leaving."
The tweet from Kennedy tagged several X accounts including Roaring Kitty and also included hashtags for ApesNotLeaving, ApesTogetherStrong GME and AMC.
Kennedy's tweet was made around an hour after posting about wanting to be included in 2024 election debates with Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Why It's Important: A push to ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks and options continues to gain steam, with potential red flags over trades.
Presidents and presidential candidates often don't hold individual stock positions. The position from Kennedy could represent one of the biggest validations of the meme stock movement by a politician.
Data tracked by Benzinga showed only one member of Congress traded GameStop and AMC stock over the last two years.
Kennedy is a cryptocurrency supporter and previously shared that he had bought Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) for his children.
The 2024 presidential candidate could gain support from cryptocurrency investors and retail traders with his publicly announced positions.
GME Price Action: GameStop shares are down 9% to $20.96 on Tuesday, versus a 52-week trading range of $9.95 to $64.83. GameStop stock is down 13.4% over the last year and up 19.6% year-to-date in 2024.