Texas Senator Ted Cruz and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been known to be the polar opposites of one another since they were first made aware of each other’s existence, but it would appear that the two have been brought into a full agreement on one thing.
The stock trading app known as “Robinhood” was one of the largest tools used for the recent surge in GameStop’s stock, as well as other companies like movie theater company AMC, and phone company Nokia. As the shockwaves from the stocks rocketing into the stratosphere, hedgefund managers became angry as they watched their money dissolve before them at the hands of regular citizens.
In response, Robinhood halted any trading to do with the aforementioned companies, resulting in a massive backlash from investors led in part by Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy, who called for Robinhood’s decision-makers to be imprisoned for their blatant market manipulation and interference of the free market.
(READ: Dave Portnoy Goes Nuclear On Robinhood After the App Shuts Down Trading to Protect the Elite)
The blatant shutting down of regular everyday traders while allowing hedge funder managers to continue doing as they will also got the attention of AOC, and she made it clear that this decision by Robinhood needs to be investigated. As someone on the financial services committee, it’s something she can do.
“This is unacceptable,” tweeted AOC. “We now need to know more about @RobinhoodApp’s decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit. As a member of the Financial Services Cmte, I’d support a hearing if necessary.”
This is unacceptable.
We now need to know more about @RobinhoodApp’s decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit.
As a member of the Financial Services Cmte, I’d support a hearing if necessary. https://t.co/4Qyrolgzyt
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 28, 2021
It’s not often AOC finds herself wholly aligned with the free-market right. It’s definitely a cold day in hell when she and Cruz find themselves on the same page, but it would appear the temperature down there dropped drastically. Cruz tweeted out a response to AOC, letting her know he was in full agreement.
Fully agree. 👇 https://t.co/rW38zfLYGh
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 28, 2021
If Robinhood is investigated, it will likely be supported by a bipartisan majority both in the House, especially with the major influencers of both sides putting their support behind it.
The question will be, will the Washington machine actually do anything about what happened?
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