A debate has emerged on the right over whether influencer Andrew Tate is a good guy being unfairly attacked or a bad guy getting exactly what he deserves.
For the uninitiated, Tate is an influencer who’s currently on house arrest in Romania as he awaits trial on allegations that he committed several crimes.
“Andrew Tate has been indicted by Romanian authorities on charges of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime ring to sexually exploit women. Tate and his brother Tristan, as well as other associates, were held in detention from December 2022 until March, when they were placed on house arrest,” Vox notes.
“The indictment named seven victims, one more than originally announced, who claim they were taken to buildings in Romania where they were placed under constant surveillance, intimidated into producing porn, and forced into debt. Tate, meanwhile, has attempted to frame the case as a plot by the Romanian government to steal his money. No word yet on a trial date,” according to Vox.
The debate on whether he’s a good guy or bad guy emerged after Tucker Carlson interviewed Tate this week for his Twitter show.
Watch that interview below:
Ep. 9 The Andrew Tate interview pic.twitter.com/0KKMzSVmMO
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 11, 2023
During the interview, Tate said things that rubbed some people the wrong way.
First, speaking about the alleged trafficking, he explained it as follows:
“I’ve been running a webcam studio for nearly a decade, I’ve had over 75 girls work for me, and my business model is different than 99% of webcam studio owners. Over 50% of my employees were actually my girlfriend at the time and, of all my girlfriends, none were in the adult entertainment industry before they met me.”
Next, he explained exactly how he recruited girls for his business:
“My job was to get women to fall in love with me. Literally, that was my job. My job was to meet a girl, go on a few dates, sleep with her, test if she’s quality, get her to fall in love with me to where she’d do anything I say, and then get her on webcam so we could become rich together.”
But Tate also said a lot of things that conservatives in particular liked: He criticized the West’s intentional movement to de-masculinize men, slammed unrestricted migration, and suggested that there are no good guys or bad guys in the war in Ukraine.
These remarks earned him praise on the right, but not from everybody. Responding to all the praise, conservative radio show host Erick Erickson was quick to argue that conservatives were making a mistake by propping up Tate.
“Tate is charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women. Are you an Andrew Tate right winger or a Sound of Freedom right winger. You can’t really be both,” he tweeted.
“The Sound of Freedom” is a movie about child sex trafficking. It’s not clear what it has to do with Tate’s actions.
“So I’ve gotten some, but less than I expected, ‘but he’s only charged’ tweets. Yeah, but do you know anything about the guy? His views on women, life, morals, etc. are antithetical to conservatism and Christianity. Andrew Tate is not a good person,” Erickson added.
Look:
So I’ve gotten some, but less than I expected, “but he’s only charged” tweets. Yeah, but do you know anything about the guy? His views on women, life, morals, etc. are antithetical to conservatism and Christianity. Andrew Tate is not a good person. https://t.co/9JQtoHsFh0
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 12, 2023
Yet Erickson received a LOT of pushback for this tweet, with a surprising number of conservatives defending Tate.
Look:
From his interview last night it seems like he has a spot-on view of life and morality.
— Ted Tompson (@tompson_te74428) July 12, 2023
Oh my. So only the perfect people would ever warrant defending, listening to, or allowing to speak. That narrows it down to a very tiny number of those alive on the earth today.
— Ten Six (@TenSixtom) July 13, 2023
Johnny Depp was bad person, whose values were antithetical to Christianity and Conservatism, but noone had any issue defending him because it was the right thing to do. I feel the same about Tate here
— Jack (@jackconservativ) July 12, 2023
Here we go again.. This explains why republicans like to lose. Inflexible in thinking, & I’m darn sure you will rather lose a context to preserve what you believe is morally right, than win with flexible thought knowing that no 2 individuals are the same, Grace is good thing
— o’L (@PNNnow) July 12, 2023
So Erik supports arresting all people and convicting them without due process because they do not follow his Conservative Christian beliefs?
Your mission is to turn people toward Christ, not jail them.
Your views turn people away from all religion and revolt against God— Deplorabot (@Deplorabot666) July 12, 2023
But for every Tate supporter, there appeared to be an equally fervent Tate hater, including the conservatives at The Babylon Bee, a satirical news site run by Christian conservatives.
On Wednesday, the site published a new piece mocking Tate by portraying him as the villain of the next “The Sound of Freedom” movie — thus suggesting he’s a child sex trafficker.
Observe:
Newly Announced Sequel ‘Sound Of Freedom 2’ Features Jim Caviezel Going After Andrew Tate https://t.co/Dn5QvpdZIb pic.twitter.com/o5vtRbAzny
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2023
While it received plenty of likes, it also attracted some backlash as well.
Look:
What !!!! Andrew is innocent. Talk about his innocence. ✍♀️
— NoraHall@1978 (@nori_hall) July 12, 2023
It’s best not to conflate Pimps with Pedophiles
— Danny Boi (@DanielCicero17) July 12, 2023
Rare Babylon L
— Goat-N-Whiskey (@goatandwhiskey) July 12, 2023
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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