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- The meme-stock "apes" have attracted a new member: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- The presidential candidate said he'd bought $24,000 of GameStop stock in a show of support.
- Kennedy endorsed retail investors' calls for reforming Wall Street to level the playing field.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has joined the meme-stock movement — and shown he's serious by investing in GameStop.
The political scion and presidential candidate threw his lot in with the "apes" in a X post this week and cheered on the retail investors seeking to level the playing field by reining in Wall Street.
Kennedy also endorsed their calls for market transparency, stricter regulation and harsher penalties for bad behavior.
"My administration will support the Ape retail rebellion and enact aggressive Wall Street reforms," he said.
The veteran environmental attorney said on X that he "just invested $24,000 in GameStop" using fees he earned suing Monsanto over its controversial Roundup herbicide.
"I love the idea of making Monsanto support $GME and the Apes," Kennedy wrote. "We need a free and fair market. Let's punish predatory short selling to the moon. By the way, I ride with you and I'm not leaving."
The post included a mocked-up movie poster from the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, featuring a picture of the politician and the tagline, "Apes Together Strong."
Dynasties and dollars
Kennedy is the son of a late senator, Robert F. Kennedy, and the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy. He's running as an independent on a platform of fighting for the little guy and taking on the greed of corporate America and the corruption in Washington DC.
GameStop is known as the ultimate meme stock after it skyrocketed by as much as 2,300% in January 2021. Retail investors piled in to punish short sellers, thumb their noses at Wall Street, crack jokes on social media, and make a quick buck.
The buying frenzy reignited earlier this month when one of the biggest champions of the video game retailer's stock, Keith "Roaring Kitty" Gill, resumed posting on X after a long hiatus.
GameStop shares soared almost sixfold in a matter of days, but have given up most of those gains since then.
Kennedy isn't the only presidential candidate courting the alt-finance crowd. Donald Trump has been hyping cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and his campaign began accepting crypto donations this week.