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Right-wing influencers and media figures defend Andrew Tate after he is charged with human trafficking and rape | Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/right-wing-influencers-and-media-figures-defend-andrew-tate-after-he-charged-human

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"Conservative pundits baselessly claim that Tate’s arrest was “completely, absolutely, totally made up” so that he would “be silenced”

Right-wing media figures have defended bigoted social media influencer Andrew Tate after Romanian officials arrested him on December 29 and charged him with human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized criminal group.

Tate has styled himself as a self-help guru who, according to The Guardian, is “capable of radicalizing men and boys to commit harm offline.” His rise to stardom in the right-wing media ecosystem has been in part fueled by his online course “Hustlers University,” which Insider compared to “a multi-level marketing scheme.” As Tate’s fan base grew, clips of his virulently bigoted rhetoric rapidly spread across social media, particularly on TikTok. In these clips, Tate expressed his deeply misogynist beliefs, including claiming that the “easiest way to judge the value of a female” is based on how many sexual partners she has had. He has also asserted that a relationship works only when the woman “obeys like she’s supposed to” and it is OK for men to cheat on women, but not for women to cheat on men because “women show their love through sexual loyalty.”

In August 2022, Meta banned Tate from its platforms under its “dangerous individuals and organizations” policy after he posted videos in which he described, in graphic detail, how he would assault a woman if she accused him of cheating. TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube have also banned Tate from their platforms. In response to Tate’s deplatforming, right-wing outlets cast him as a free speech martyr and the conservative video sharing platform Rumble recruited him to his site.

After Tate’s arrest, several right-wing figures defended him and baselessly claimed that he was arrested because he is “effective and he’s going against the system”
Following Tate’s arrest, some right-wing influencers openly expressed their continued support for him and defended his bigoted rhetoric. Many denied the allegations against him and even claimed that he was set up in an effort to silence him.

Nico Kenn De Balinthazy, a right-wing streamer and an associate of Tate’s who goes by the handle Sneako, posted a video to Rumble after Tate’s arrest. He began the video by seemingly asking his viewers to write “Free Top G in the chat. Free Andrew Tate. Free Andrew Tate.” (Tate refers to himself as “Top G.”) Balinthazy added, “He said this was going to happen and it happened.” Later on in the video he said that he has been to Tate’s house in Romania, and “I know them personally. Andrew and Tristan Tate are not human traffickers. It’s all a lie.” [Rumble, 12/29/22]
Right-wing influencer An0maly said, “I don’t think he’s doing what they’re saying he’s doing, I think they’re mad at him because he’s effective and he’s going against the system.” [Facebook, 12/30/22]
Students for Trump co-founder Ryan Fournier expressed disbelief after Tate’s arrest, tweeting, “Andrew Tate was arrested for ‘human trafficking.’ Really? After all of the BS we’ve seen this year, do you REALLY think this is true?” [Twitter, 12/29/22]
Infowars’ Alex Jones came to Tate’s defense on his show saying that the charges against Tate are “completely, absolutely, totally made up” and that “Tate is well known for being neurotic about not breaking the law, about being neurotic about knowing when they’re trying to set him up. And it’s well known that when people try to start fights with him and stuff, you know what Andrew Tate does? He walks away. And so, I know his M.O. he was not trafficking women and all this crap.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 12/30/22]..."