The Trader’s Voice: Rick Santelli’s Tea Party Rant

Abstract

This essay explores the micro-origins of the Tea Party movement, focusing on Rick Santelli’s February 2009 ‘rant’ at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Contrary to populist readings of the movement and its later anti-Obamacare positions, a close reading of the rhetorical and media contexts of the rant demonstrates that its origins lay in a defense of unregulated, untaxed derivative securities. The particular configuration of the HDTV image and viralizable video content contributed to both the power of the rant and the erasure of its particular context.