Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist and notorious leader of the right-wing “manosphere,” unexpectedly landed in Florida on Thursday morning after years of imprisonment and house arrest in Romania. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, were arrested two years ago for allegedly forming a criminal gang to exploit and sexually assault women. The charges included the alleged rape of a minor.
The Romanian government suddenly lifted international travel restrictions Thursday morning, and the Tate brothers promptly boarded a plane for the United States. It’s not clear why, or how, this happened, but it followed a pressure campaign from the Trump administration, which reportedly pressed Romanian authorities earlier this month to lift the travel restriction. Trump denied on Thursday during a brief press availability that he was involved in the Tate brothers’ freedom.
Andrew Tate has been an outspoken supporter of Trump, and the feeling amongst the president’s family is mutual; Donald Trump Jr. has described the Tate brothers’ imprisonment as “absolute insanity.” One of Tate’s lawyers, Paul Ingrassia, now works in the Trump White House as a liaison to the Justice Department.
Whatever happened, the release of the Tate brothers delivers a huge victory to the internet’s growing underbelly of incels and men’s rights activists, sometimes known as the “manosphere.” It signals to his millions of fans that the sexual abuse of women won’t just be brushed under the rug, but rewarded.
A social media star and former professional kickboxer, Tate was at one point the biggest influencer in the manosphere — gaining millions of followers teaching young men how to get rich and have sex with women, while also preaching violence against women. He was triumphant upon his return on Thursday.
“It’s extremely important that we stop allowing media spin, ramp-up smears, lies, carefully constructed narratives from George Soros-funded operations trying to destroy the reputations of good people who have no intention to do anything other than to follow the law,” Tate said to a flock of reporters and fans who met him at the Fort Lauderdale airport.
But many critics worry that triumph will have disastrous consequences.
“It sends a message that if you have an opinion or political ideology that the people in power like, then it doesn’t matter if you sexually abuse and exploit women and children,” said Dani Pinter, an attorney with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) who represents Jane Doe, the only American victim in the Romanian sex trafficking case.
Doe accused the Tate brothers of luring her from Florida to Romania in an attempt to sex-traffic her in 2022. She escaped in the middle of the night and reported the trafficking operation to authorities with the help of a friend. Romanian officials later expanded their investigation into the brothers after 35 additional women came forward alleging the rape and trafficking of minors, and money laundering. The brothers sued Doe and her family for defamation after she provided witness testimony in the Romania case. Pinter says Doe is terrified for her safety and is contemplating leaving the country.
The support from Trump’s inner circle came even though Tate built his star power on violent and misogynistic rhetoric. The 38-year-old has claimed on social media that rape is the victim’s fault, and that women become their husbands’ property after marriage. He was kicked off the reality TV show “Big Brother” after a video of him beating a woman with a belt surfaced. (The woman later said the video showed consensual sex.) In one TikTok video, he acted out how he’d attack a woman if she cheated on him: “It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up bitch.”
But the manosphere promotes the same type of toxic masculinity and rigid gender roles that Trump has championed for so long. Many manosphere influencers used their platforms to endorse Trump during the presidential campaign and effectively handed him the White House.
It’s a perfect partnership for a man whose rampant misogyny and disregard for women’s humanity has been a signature of his political career. Trump himself has been accused by two dozen women of sexual assault and rape, and just last year a federal jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Similar to Tate, he’s bragged about sexually assaulting women and has surrounded himself with men accused of committing the same type of violence.
Even for a Republican Party that appears fully beholden to Trump, some high-ranking GOP politicians have found Tate’s freedom to be unacceptable. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters on Thursday that “Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic on Thursday, “I don’t think conservatives should be glorifying this guy at all, and I certainly don’t think that we should be using any influence in our government to try to get him out of what seemed to be extremely serious charges in Romania.”
Pinter invited the Trump administration to speak with NCOSE about the case. “I think it’s only fair if they are acting on behalf of the Tates as American citizens, they should act on behalf of Jane Doe who is also an American citizen,” she said. “At least take her side of the story under advisement, accept the evidence that she has to provide. Because right now, they’re only listening to one side of the story.”
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-866-331-9474 or text “loveis” to 22522 for the National Dating Abuse Helpline.