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Gab Founder Andrew Torba Posts, Then Deletes Antisemitic Attacks Across Multiple Platforms

(Screenshot / Infowars)

Andrew Torba is a militant(link is external) Christian nationalist(link is external) and the founder of the far-right social media platform Gab, which has been a repository of bigotry(link is external) and antisemitism(link is external) since its founding in 2016. Some of the antisemitism on Gab originates with Torba himself, as he frequently makes virulently antisemitic posts on the platform, which he frequently(link is external) subsequently deletes(link is external).

Torba's rabid(link is external) and overt(link is external) antisemitism(link is external) has been an issue in Pennsylvania's gubernatorial election, as Doug Mastriano, the Christian nationalism-promoting election conspiracy theorist(link is external) Republican nominee, has close ties to Torba, having spent $5,000 promoting(link is external) his campaign on Gab, accepting(link is external) a $500 campaign donation from Torba, and even being interviewed(link is external) by Torba on his platform.

Perhaps the scrutiny that Torba and his platform are receiving explains why Torba keeps deleting the antisemitic posts he publishes on Gab.

For instance, Torba recently lashed out at new Twitter owner Elon Musk for meeting(link is external) with civil rights leaders, including(link is external) Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League, earlier this week. Given that Gab has long been a refuge for those who have been banned from Twitter, Torba is understandably concerned(link is external) that if Musk restores the accounts of banned users, they will flock back to Twitter and likely abandon Gab.

Torba's antisemitism mixed with his business concerns may have caused him to blast Musk for meeting with ADL representatives on Tuesday, with Torba declaring in a now deleted post that he would "literally shut Gab down before bending the knee to the synagogue of Satan."

Torba posted an even harsher response via the Gab account on Telegram, another social media platform favored(link is external) by far-right extremists, where he accused(link is external) Musk of being "a slave to the Jews."

That post(link is external) has also been deleted, but Torba has continued to publish posts(link is external) on Telegram attacking the ADL, including one(link is external) in which he said he'd support any candidate "who runs on the platform of shutting down the ADL and designating it a foreign terrorist organization."

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