Gab CEO Andrew Torba Accuses Parler's Dan Bongino of 'Bizarre Behavior'

The CEO of fringe social network Gab, Andrew Torba, has clashed with Parler investor Dan Bongino this week, accusing him of "bizarre behavior." Torba, who launched the platform in 2016 and has attracted an audience of right-leaning users and personalities banned from mainstream alternatives, responded on Wednesday by saying he heard Bongino had been "trash talking" him on a radio show. "What a shame for Dan to make baseless claims against me for no reason because a media outlet reported something he didn't like. Bizarre behavior from a grown adult man," Torba wrote in a Gab post that attracted over 800 comments. The clash was seemingly sparked by a fringe conspiracy theory website alleging Parler's interim CEO, Mark Meckler, supported a convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution that could "give George Soros and other interests the power to rewrite" supreme law. Bongino, a conservative radio host who has invested in Parler, lashed out at Torba this week for criticizing the Parler platform after its struggles to get back online. Bongino appeared to suggest the article had been planted by his competitor. Bongino added: "Whenever Parler has any little bit of success, like getting back online, you will notice a story about Parler being owned by George Soros, operated by George Soros... It appears every time. It's a scam, every time Parler has some degree of success. It's a scam run by an unethical competitor who sadly, people fall for." Bongino labeled Torba as a "very insecure, childish, immature buffoon" and a "total clown." Bongino claimed he was contacted by a user who said they had deleted their Parler profile over the link to Soros, a billionaire investor and philanthropist. Last November, a hoax image spread across social media suggesting Parler, which was hugely popular among supporters of Donald Trump, was owned by Soros. The publication that reported the story about Meckler said it had "no contact with Torba or any other 'rival' competitor... prior to the publication of the original article." Parler's main social network was pulled offline on January 11. Its account with hosting giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) was suspended amid accusations that it had failed to adequately moderate extreme posts uploaded by its users. Parler's mobile app was pulled by Google and Apple following the U.S. Capitol Building riot by Trump supporters on January 6. While the main website had since relaunched under Meckler's leadership, the apps are inaccessible at the time of writing.

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Parler's former CEO, John Matze, was fired by political donor Rebekah Mercer, a reported funder of the site, following a dispute over content moderation. Parler has been contacted for comment by Newsweek, and received a bounce-back message after sending a request to Gab's listed media email address. Based on his posts, Torba is not a fan of the Mercer family, who are well-known financial backers of Republican causes. He told readers they were "not on our side." Torba elaborated in his post on Wednesday: "Dan Bongino has resorted to ad hominem attacks against me for no reason. This is a shame because I believe Dan Bongino is a good and decent man who is currently wrapped up with some horrible people."