Everybody hates Andrew Tate

Including Ben Shapiro, Josh Hawley, Ron DeSantis, Dave Portnoy, Megyn Kelly...

Just when it was reasonable to hope that we could forget about Andrew Tate for a while, here he is again, smeared across the newsfeed like malignant pus. He’s in Florida. Nobody quite knows how or why. Tate and his brother were under house arrest in Romania for alleged sex trafficking and prostitution until January, when they were given freedom to travel within the country. The Financial Times reports that Trump officials pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the brothers. Romanian officials have denied any pressure from the U.S. Tate himself said there was “no active indictment” against them preventing travel, and they are U.S. citizens. The case against them in Romania proceeds, and they are required to return as needed, and to check in every 90 days.

If you want to know who Tate is, or why he became such a global figure, I’ve written on him here and here. But here was one of my summaries:

To say that he has reactionary views about the role of men and women would be an understatement. In some of his videos, women are referred to as “bitches”. He believes that wives become the property of their husbands. Tate also plays into the idea that the world is being controlled by evil forces, using the analogy of The Matrix, a popular trope in the red-pill “manosphere” of online misogynists. After his arrest Tate tweeted simply: “The Matrix sent their agents.”

As you would expect, liberals are angry about Tate’s arrival. But then again, and here’s the good news, pretty much everyone is. That includes many very conservative voices.

Here is a sample:

• Gov. Ron DeSantis: "Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct."

• Ben Shapiro, conservative pundit and co-founder of the Daily Wire: “America does not need more self-proclaimed pimps and terror supporters with outstanding criminal allegations of sex trafficking and a history of pornographic distribution”.

• Sen. Josh Hawley: “I don’t think conservatives should be glorifying this guy at all”.

• Megyn Kelly (on news that the Tampa Bay Young Republicans Club had invited Tate) to speak to the group: “You’ve lost your way, boys.”

• Josh Hammer, conservative columnist: "That these moral monsters have been welcomed to our shores with open arms is appalling and shameful."

• Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports: "What's the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers?"

The Atlantic has already run two articles on Tate’s arrival, with the headlines “When You’re MAGA, They Let You Do It” and “Why MAGA likes Andrew Tate”, mostly without quoting the criticisms from the political right.

The New York Times headline was: “In U.S., Tate Brothers Are Met With a Mixed Reception”. The subhead added that “Conservatives were divided” on Tate’s arrival, but the only pro-Tate conservatives quoted in the story were the Tampa Bay Young Republicans Club.

I think these headlines give an unfortunate impression. Of course Tate has his admirers on the fringes of the American right, as elsewhere. But it is important to recognize the near unanimity of condemnation of Tate, including among some very right-wing, Trump-supporting folks like the ones listed above. To say that “conservatives were divided” or that “MAGA likes Andrew Tate” gives the false impression that Tate has many more admirers than he does.

And it’s not just words. The Republican attorney general of Florida, James Uthmeier, is digging in, saying he had directed his office "to work with our state law enforcement partners to conduct a preliminary inquiry into these individuals." He went on: "Florida has zero tolerance for human trafficking and violence against women. If any of these alleged crimes trigger Florida jurisdiction, we will hold them accountable."

The truth is that at this point, Tate is little more than a footnote. Or at least, he should be. Almost nobody admires him. Almost nobody wants him here.

When women’s groups can link arms with Josh Hawley in their opposition to Andrew Tate and all he stands for, that’s a good day for America.