Nigel Farage has been condemned for saying Andrew Tate is an “important voice for men”.
The Reform UK leader claimed the online influencer had raised awareness of “men becoming feminine” and stood up for their ability to “be a bloke”. Tate has been facing charges since December 2022 of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, all of which he denies.
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Shadow minister for domestic violence Alex Davies-Jones told the Guardian Tate was a “dangerous misogynist who is facing multiple charges of human trafficking and sexual offences – and it is inexplicable that a politician would praise him.
“Tate is not a positive role model for young boys,” he added. “He will drag them down a horrific rabbit-hole of objectifying and abusing women. It is never just banter – it is part of a toxic culture that sadly often leads to violence.”
Tate has amassed millions of followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok over the past decade. But he has also seen his accounts banned over inflammatory statements he has made, often appearing to advocate violence against women, which the platforms ruled violated their policies.
He has been frequently accused of embodying toxic masculinity and misogyny, having claimed that women cannot drive, belong in the home and are a man’s property.
But Mr Farage told the Strike It Big podcast in February that Tate had been “an important voice” for men, who were being emasculated.
He said: “Tate was a very important voice for an emasculated … you three guys, you are all 25, you are all kind of being told you can’t be blokes, you can’t do laddish, fun, bloke things … That’s almost what you’re being told. That masculinity is something we should look down upon, something we should frown upon. It’s like the men are becoming feminine and the women are becoming masculine and it’s a bit difficult to tell these days who’s what.
“And Tate fed into that by saying, ‘Hang on, what’s wrong with being a bloke? What’s wrong in male culture? What’s wrong in male humour?’ He fed into those things. His was a campaign of raising awareness, his was a campaign of giving people perhaps a bit of confidence at school or whatever it was to speak up …”
Asked about the comments, Mr Farage told The Guardian: “There’s an awakening in a younger generation who have had enough of being dictated to, have had enough of being lectured to. They’re seeing through the rubbish they’re getting taught in schools and universities. If no other politician is willing to reach out to this group of people, then I will.”
But the comments come ahead of a crucial general election grilling for the Reform leader, who faces a BBC Panorama interview with presenter Nick Robinson at 7.00pm.
On Friday he returned to the campaign trail in Clacton, the Tory-held Essex seat he is contesting at the general election. He is widely expected to win in the constituency, which would see him enter parliament on his eighth attempt.
On Thursday he taunted Rishi Sunak over the Tory election betting scandal and said he would be willing to make the biggest bet of his life that Reform will win seats at the general election.
He said: “We’ve had a close protection bodyguard of the Prime Minister, a party official, Conservative Party candidates, all of whom won money on it being an early election.
“So, it looks as though the corruption within that organisation perhaps runs deeper than any of us have realised. I think things are getting worse and worse for them”.
But Mr Farage faced a fresh headache as it emerged a Reform candidate compared the government’s pandemic response to the Holocaust.
Jake Fraser, who is standing for Mr Farage’s party in Widnes and Halewood, likened the introduction of vaccine passes for holidays to the genocide of Jewish people during the Second World War.
In comments made in 2021 and first reported by the Daily Mail, Mr Fraser wrote on social media: “We’re on the precipice of a health Holocaust.
“The same methodology the Nazis used to rise to power, with minimal opposition by appealing to both sides of the political spectrum... is unfolding before our eyes.”
The party has been hit by a series of revelations about the online activities of some of its would-be MPs, from links to a British fascist leader to suggestions the UK should have remained neutral in the fight against the Nazis and admiration of Adolf Hitler’s “brilliant” ability to inspire action.
