The Democratic party's silence on the Tate brothers shows how broadly male supremacist thinking has seeped into the conventional wisdom of political strategists, argues Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan. Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer accused by numerous women and British prosecutors of rape, strangulation, assault, sex trafficking, possession of child abuse images, and extreme pornography, was arrested in Miami last week along with his brother Tristan. The men had previously been charged in Romania and were under house arrest until, following diplomatic moves from the Trump administration, they were allowed to leave for the US. When asked if the Trump administration secured their release, the Tates' lawyer said: 'Do the math. These guys are on the plane.' Now they await extradition to the UK, where they are dual citizens.
The Tates' history of alleged violence
In June, the New Yorker's Heidi Blake published a long investigation detailing a documented history of alleged sex trafficking, violence, and sexual assault, along with police mismanagement that allowed the men to go free. The Tates denied wrongdoing; their lawyer called the new British charges 'garbage.' But the investigation painted a picture of the men acting exactly as they talked. In a world where misogyny is taken seriously, the Tates would have been ostracized. Instead, they got rich and ingratiated themselves to powerful Republicans.
Misogyny as a unifying force on the right
Tate is a natural fit on a Maga right united around male supremacy. Contempt for women is the uniting force on the American right, more uniform than hatred of immigration or devotion to capital. Donald Trump cemented the presidency after being revealed to have bragged about grabbing women 'by the pussy' while maintaining his base. His domineering, narcissistic, vulgar style of masculinity has come to be seen as a feature. Other Maga men imitate his misogyny with gleeful competitiveness. Andrew Tate, in this milieu, is the rule, not an exception.
Why Democrats are not exploiting the link
Just because Tate's style of masculinity is popular on the right does not mean it is popular with the public. It has a constituency of Republican politicians and unlikeable teenage boys, not a majority of Americans. Yet Democrats are not making the Tates symbols of Maga's hateful cultural project or Trump's alleged affinity for sexual misconduct. Rape is the most quintessentially anti-democracy act: a violent refusal of equality in the most intimate terms. An opposition to Trumpism could build from anti-rape principles into pro-democracy ones. It seems like an easy win.
Male supremacist thinking in Democratic strategy
That the Democratic party is not taking this opportunity shows how male supremacist thinking has seeped into political strategists' conventional wisdom. One explanation is that they do not want to alienate the Tates' base of manosphere content consumers. Democrats are losing men, a demographic reality treated as a greater emergency than the GOP's parallel loss of women. Following the 2024 election, major party players fundraised $20m for a 'Speaking with American Men' project. Governor Gavin Newsom has forged a podcast embracing some rightwing cultural positions. The party is running white male candidates saying it's OK 'to be a manly man.'
The Graham Platner case
This desperate effort to re-masculinize the party led to the recruitment of Graham Platner, the ex-marine who dropped out of the Maine senate race after being accused of rape (he has denied the allegations). Major Democratic players called on Platner to drop out, but many still believe in the strategy that elevated him: prizing men over women. In this sense, some in the Democratic party may not entirely disagree with Tate's fundamental principle that men are better and more important than women.
