The GameStop saga on the stock market has already brought unlikely things to fruition, like Ted Cruz agreeing with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And now it may have brought Jon Stewart to Twitter to complain about Wall Street sticking it to the little guy.
Thursday’s news that free stock trading apps like Robinhood were preventing customers from buying shares of heavily shorted companies like GameStop and AMC drew outrage from all corners of the internet and the real world. The coming days will likely see investigations and hearings on Capitol Hill and perhaps some consequences for impeding the finances of millions of customers, likely for the benefit of the extremely wealthy. But one unexpected potential consequence of all this mess was the former host of The Daily Show joining the social media network where Donald Trump is no longer allowed.
On Thursday, many pointed to a tweet from an account called “@jon_actual” that many felt was Jon Stewart. And, yes, whoever it was used their first tweet to complain about the GameStop situation.
This is bullshit. The Redditors aren't cheating, they're joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years. Don't shut them down…maybe sue them for copyright infringement instead!!
We've learned nothing from 2008.
Love
StewBeef— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 28, 2021
“This is bullshit. The Redditors aren’t cheating, they’re joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years,” the tweet said. “Don’t shut them down…maybe sue them for copyright infringement instead!!”
The tweet also said “we’ve learned nothing from 2008,” a reference to the financial crisis started largely by cascading debt and defaults in the housing industry. The tweet was signed with “love” from “Stewbeef,” which made many believe it was, indeed, Stewart behind the account.
That speculation certainly grew when one-time member of The Daily Show and noted friend of Stewart, Stephen Colbert, retweeted the lone tweet and said “a friend of mine joined Twitter.”
Well, one thing changed since 2008- a friend of mine joined Twitter. https://t.co/XowK9xXu4D
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) January 28, 2021
Despite the evidence suggesting this is Jon Stewart finally on Twitter, it’s important to know there isn’t any solid confirmation here. And Twitter’s own verification system is currently on pause, so don’t expect a blue checkmark to confirm your suspicions anytime soon. Still, it seems logical that it’s Stewart, which is why the account with a single tweet as of Thursday night is followed by hundreds of thousands of people eager to see him rip into Wall Street via a new medium.
There’s a lot that GameStop’s wild ride has caused that’s impossible to anticipate, and that will continue in the coming days, but Stewart joining Twitter is certainly one of the most unexpected ones we’ve seen yet.