Fox News host Tucker Carlson yet again defended social media influencerAndrew Tate, who has been imprisoned in Romania.
The 36-year-old former kickboxer and his brother have been jailed in Romania since late December on suspected rape and human trafficking offences.
Carlson had earlier called Mr Tate's arrest "obviously a set up" which "looks like a human rights violation".
The right-wing commentator on the Full Send Podcast called Mr Tate "really smart", and "completely real". He claimed that the influencer's imprisonment is a "conspiracy" by like-minded people who want the layman to remain unintelligent and easily manipulatable.
Carlson said: "I will say it, I’m just being honest, that there’s some that I miss about Andrew Tate, but the spirit that animates Andrew Tate is very clear and very obvious and it’s not a malicious spirit at all.
"Andrew Tate’s core message is respect yourself. Act like you’re worth something. Achieve something. Do something. Get the f*** off the couch. Put down the porn. Like go do something with your life.
"... And I feel like that’s the greatest message that anyone could give. And I mean that’s how I read Andrew Tate’s message. So of course, it just tells you everything about the people in charge that’s threatening. How is that threatening?"
Carlson alleged that the same people who were on the “Pedo Island” with sex offenders Jeffery Epstein and friends Harvey Weinstein are claiming to protect women.
Mr Tate – a British-American man – has been based mainly in Romania since 2017 and is a self-described misogynist who has built up a following of millions of fans, particularly among young men drawn to his image.
Reports suggested that Mr Tate sought to fight the rape and trafficking allegations while in police custody by directing associates to recruit two right-wing lawmakers to his cause.
He instructed two associates to tell politicians George Simion and Diana Iovanovici-Sosoaca that he was being framed and supporting him would be "very good for their careers", according to wiretaps of his phone calls submitted to a court by Romanian prosecutors.
"So make it clear to them: You will get a lot of votes when Tate says you took their side," Mr Tate said a 28 January call to two of his associates.
Mr Simion denied the influencer contacted him and told Reuters that he would not publicly support the social media influencer if he was asked to.
While a spokesperson for senator Iovanovici-Sosoaca said the wiretapped conversations were “lies” designed to attack her.
