Support for Andrew Tate has taken root because society lacks a message for young straight men, a mother has said. 

The British-American kickboxer has a huge following on social media and has described himself as a “misogynist”. 

Last month, he was arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape. He denies all charges against him. 

Many of his followers are teenage boys and Lunchtime Live listener Annette said she became aware of him via her 16-year-old son. 

“Maybe about a year or two ago, I started hearing, ‘Andrew Tate said this, Andrew Tate said that,’” she said.  

“I didn’t know an awful lot about him and the initial messages that I was getting about him from my son was that he was encouraging them to be fit and that kind of thing really. 

“But I suppose it’s become a little bit more sinister, the messages that have been coming out from this chap.” 

Teenagers are seen on their way to school in Dublin. Picture by: Rollingnews.ie

The family are “opinionated” and no topic is off limits - including Andrew Tate. 

Even though Annette regards Tate’s views as repugnant, she understands how he has cultivated such a large following. 

“There is little or no supports available to this particular group in my view - and it is just my view,” she said. 

“If you don’t identify as something else, you’re not in some other kind of category - be it LGBTQ or feminist or part of Black Lives Matter or some other category, if you’re just plain old straight Joe, there’s no supports for you in society today.  

“All you hear, if you’re in this particular group, is that they’re privileged - you know, privileged white guys. 

“[That] they exude ‘toxic masculinity’, they can’t just be masculine any more.” 

 

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To counter his views, Annette believes society needs to do more to make young straight men feel valued and included.  

“Society recognises all other groups and encourages them to be all they can be - whatever they want to be,” she said. 

“But what’s our message to young straight men? What is it? We don’t give them a message and this is where Andrew Tate has come in.

“He has recognised this; he has recognised that there is a group of young men out there floundering.” 

Main image: Andrew Tate. Picture: Instagram