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Andrew Tate rose to fame on a message of forceful masculinity that positioned men as rightful dominators over women. From his base in Romania, he promised to help guide men through \u201cthe Matrix,\u201d his conspiratorial term for a world that he says unfairly demonizes men, and called the criminal accusations against him evidence of persecution.<\/p>\n
Now, the sudden arrival<\/a> of Mr. Tate and his brother Tristan Tate in Florida has alarmed women\u2019s rights groups and women who say they have been victimized by the brothers.<\/p>\n Questions over whether U.S. officials intervened to help the Tates have only added to concerns that their ideology will thrive, even as they face separate investigations in Romania and Britain.<\/p>\n Here is what to know about the response to their arrival in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like their power knows no bounds,\u201d said Dani Pinter, a lawyer representing an American woman who has accused the Tate brothers<\/a> of luring her to Romania to exploit her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The client, who has sued the brothers in a Florida court, was \u201cterrified and shocked\u201d that they had come to the state, said Ms. Pinter, a senior vice president at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.<\/p>\n After their arrival, Ms. Pinter called it \u201ca slap in the face to all the victims of the Tate brothers, especially the U.S. victim who is not being protected by her country.\u201d<\/p>\n The brothers had been held in Romania since 2022, first over accusations that they romanced women with the intention of forming a criminal group to exploit them for financial gain, and then over sex crime charges<\/a> from the British authorities.<\/p>\n They have denied any wrongdoing and sued one of Ms. Pinter\u2019s client for defamation. \u201cWe\u2019ve yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives, ever,\u201d Mr. Andrew Tate said after landing in Florida on Thursday.<\/p>\n Four British women who sued Andrew Tate in Britain over claims that he had raped and abused them urged the British government on Friday to immediately request the brothers\u2019 extradition from the United States. The British authorities have sought their arrest over separate criminal accusations of rape and human trafficking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n If the government does not request the extradition, \u201cit won\u2019t just be us it will be failing, but all British victims of alleged sexual violence,\u201d the women said in a statement. A spokeswoman for the British Home Office, which oversees policing and crime policy, declined to say whether any extradition request had been made or received.<\/p>\n \u201cI am really concerned that we are going to see their following grow and more of their followers feel like they\u2019re going to be invincible,\u201d said Christian F. Nunes, the president of the National Organization for Women. Officials and others need to respond by being \u201cvocal defenders\u201d of women and girls, she said.<\/p>\n The brothers, who have zealously supported President Trump, have previously found support<\/a> from his associates<\/a>, including the president\u2019s eldest son<\/a>, Donald Trump Jr. The Tampa Bay Young Republicans called the brothers<\/a> \u201cfree speech absolutionists\u201d and welcomed them to the state.<\/p>\n But Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said the Tates were not welcome in Florida, and the state\u2019s attorney general, James Uthmeier, also a Republican, said that his office would conduct a \u201cpreliminary inquiry\u201d into the brothers. \u201cFlorida has zero tolerance for human trafficking and violence against women,\u201d Mr. Uthmeier said on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n A lawyer for the influencers said on Thursday that he had lobbied American lawmakers on the brothers\u2019 behalf, but declined to comment on whether that effort had been successful. Romanian officials have denied any intervention from U.S. officials in the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Still, the ties to the administration left women\u2019s rights groups worried that the brothers and their views would be bolstered in an environment where the administration has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs<\/a> and protections against gender discrimination.<\/p>\n The Tate brothers, much like Mr. Trump, have tapped into the genuine suffering that men and boys experience as they struggle with loneliness, suicide, drugs and the feeling that their identities as men have been demonized, said Cynthia Miller-Idriss, the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab<\/a> at American University in Washington.<\/p>\n The brothers have sold access to an online community and courses that promised to teach men how to use women to build wealth<\/a>.<\/p>\n They offer the narrative, Dr. Miller-Idriss said, that \u201cyou can be back on top \u2014 all you have to do is dominate women.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo some extent, a lot of boys and men feel like he\u2019s saying the things nobody else will say,\u201d she said, \u201cand the MAGA campaign and the Trump campaign has done the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n What happens now that the brothers are in the United States remains unclear. Joseph McBride, a lawyer for the brothers, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.<\/p>\n Romanian prosecutors did not name the brothers, but said that two British American citizens who had been allowed to leave Romania would still need to appear before a court there when summoned. Although an indictment against them in Romania was withdrawn, investigations over sex trafficking accusations are still active.<\/p>\n Without an active indictment, the lifting of a travel ban against the Tate brothers was legal, said Silvia Tabusca, a law lecturer at the Romanian-American University in Bucharest.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they are not coming back, they will face an international warrant and international action,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But it is possible, she said, that the United States could decide to protect them by arguing that Romania\u2019s judicial system is not fair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Vice President JD Vance criticized Romania\u2019s democracy<\/a> in a speech last month in Germany after Romania annulled its presidential election<\/a> results after finding signs of Russian interference.<\/p>\n Ms. Tabusca nonetheless said that because the potential charges the brothers face carry long prison sentences, the investigation in Romania is likely to continue even if they are absent. \u201cThey are not escaping these charges,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen, she said, whether the brothers will return to Romania for a court hearing scheduled for later this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAccusers called the move a \u2018slap in the face.\u2019<\/h2>\n
Some want them extradited to Britain.<\/h2>\n
Conservatives were divided about their U.S. arrival.<\/h2>\n
They still face investigations.<\/h2>\n