The View co-host Meghan McCain recently made a baseless comparison of the Capitol rioters and the retail GameStop stock market traders in a tweet that she has since deleted. McCain started by tweeting out how she believes the situation with GameStop is relevant to how people feel about “everything that is wrong” with the world. She added that it is the result of a “system” that “feels rigged.” McCain also implied this has led to “the rise of populism in America” and that it is an important story that should not be forgotten.
McCain then made her controversial comparison, writing, “The same thing that drove people to the Capitol is driving Redditors to buy GameStop. The system feels rigged. And the little guy is trying to take power in any way.” She eventually deleted this tweet — according to The Daily Beast — but her take is certainly a complicated one, seeing as the Capitol rioters were clearly engaged in unlawful acts of sedition and insurrection, while the Reddit-based amateur stock traders, by most expert opinions, simply found a way to swing the pendulum in their own favor.
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The GameStop stock story is like a mirror to the world of everything that is wrong. This is what happens when the system feels rigged and nothing seems to work anymore. It’s what has fueled the rise of populism in America. The story shouldn’t be dismissed because it is nuanced.
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 29, 2021
There is currently no evidence that anything illegal took place regarding the GameStop market short squeeze. On the contrary, many members of the pro-Trump mob who stormed the Capitol have been taken into custody by law enforcement and been charged with crimes in connection to the siege. The situation with GameStop has reportedly been simmering for a month or more, but really came to a boil over the past two weeks.
Essentially, a group of online amateur investors from the Reddit subgroup called r/wallstreetbets — also known as WSB — had purchased a bunch of the company’s stock in a short sale. NBC News summed up the situation by explaining, “Never before has a group of amateur investors taken on a hedge fund like this and won. The battle over GameStop has taken on something of a David vs. Goliath feel.” The outlet then cited examples of some politicians, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who have placed the blame on Wall Street for disenfranchising the public over the years.
