Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Gab CEO Andrew Torba said Saturday that former President Donald Trump doesn’t use the platform.
- A number of media outlets, including Insider, incorrectly reported Trump had joined Gab.
- Since being banned from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, Trump has been quiet online.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that Donald Trump had posted to the social media platform Gab. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has since said the account in question is not run by Trump. We’ve updated the story to reflect this.
Gab CEO Andrew Torba said Donald Trump does not use the platform, after false reports suggested otherwise.
Multiple media outlets, including Insider, incorrectly reported that the former president broke his social media silence Friday with a post on Gab. But Torba says the account in question is not, and has never been, used by Trump.
“@realdonaldtrump is and always has been a mirror archive of POTUS’ tweets and statements that we’ve run for years. We’ve always been transparent about this and would obviously let people know if the President starts using it,” Torba said in a post on Gab.
Torba also criticised the media outlets that falsely reported that Trump himself was posting to the account, which features a blue check mark similar to those used on verified Twitter accounts.
The Gab post that was mistaken for a post from Trump himself featured a letter, which is genuine, sent by Trump’s lawyers to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin. Raskin recently called on the former president to testify at his second impeachment hearing next week.
The letter, signed by Trump attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr., read: “We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt. Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen.”
The letter continued: “The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games.”
Read more: How Google finally decided to remove Parler after months of flagging the app’s harmful content
Trump is in the midst of a second impeachment over his role in stirring up a mob of supporters that stormed the US Capitol on January 6.
The former president was permanently suspended from Twitter in the wake of the insurrection, which resulted in five people’s deaths. He was also blocked on YouTube.
Recent reports have said the ex-president is still so frustrated by being barred from Twitter that he is writing down insults and trying to get aides to post them from their own accounts.
Gab is a social networking website that is popular among far-right supporters. It rose to infamy following the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh when it was discovered the shooter had posted anti-Semitic comments on the platform.
It was launched by Torba, a self-described “Christian technology entrepreneur,” following what he says was the rise of big tech censorship during the 2016 election, according to the company’s website.
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