Jon Stewart joins Twitter to defend Redditors in GameStop-gate: ‘We’ve learned nothing from 2008’

'The Redditors aren't cheating, they're joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years’

Jon Stewart testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on reauthorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund on Capitol Hill on 11 June 2019 (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

The ongoing GameStop-Reddit face-off has prompted Jon Stewart to join Twitter.

The former Daily Show host tweeted for the first time on Thursday to defend the Redditors.

“This is bulls***,” Stewart said of criticism faced by the amateur investors. 

“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," he joked.

Referencing the financial crisis of 2007-2008, he added: “We've learned nothing from 2008.”

Stewart ended his message with the sign-off “love, StewBeef”.

Related: Follow our live coverage of GameStop news

The account has now been verified, and Stephen Colbert, a real-life friend of Stewart’s, retweeted the message and wrote: “Well, one thing changed since 2008 – a friend of mine joined Twitter.”

A few hours after his first tweet, Stewart posted again, this time writing: “Thanks for the warm welcome! I promise to only use this app in a sporadic and ineffective manner.”

His account now has 686,300 followers, and his profile picture features a black dog.

Stewart hosted The Daily Show from 1999 to 2015. Since then, he has directed the political comedy film Irresistible, released in June 2020, and has advocated on behalf of 9/11 first responders and veterans.