MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Andrew and Tristan Tate, brothers who faced charges in Romania for sexual abuse and human trafficking, are now in Florida.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. They arrived yesterday by private jet after their travel restrictions were lifted by Romanian authorities. Andrew Tate is a self-described misogynist with millions of followers on social media. He and his brother are vocal supporters of President Trump, and there are questions about whether the Trump administration may have played a role in relaxing their travel restrictions.
MARTIN: NPR's Greg Allen joins us now from Miami to tell us more about this. Good morning, Greg.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.
MARTIN: So just like A just said, why are we talking about Andrew Tate? He has a big following on TikTok and X, popular with some young men, where his sort of displays of masculinity and his extravagant lifestyle. So bring us up to date on what he's charged with.
ALLEN: Well, you know, he and his brother face charges, both in Romania and in the United Kingdom, for being part of a criminal enterprise that allegedly lured women to Romania where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate also faces a rape charge. In December, a Romanian Court said that the case against the Tates couldn't go to trial, though, because of procedural and legal mistakes that had been made by prosecutors. The case does remain open, though, and the brothers are supposed to be available to return to Romania to face charges when the time comes. But many are skeptical they will return now. We'll see. Here's what Andrew Tate had to say yesterday after arriving in Fort Lauderdale.
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ANDREW TATE: We live in a Democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty, and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. There's a lot of opinions about us, a lot of things that go around about us on the internet. We've yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet ever.
ALLEN: Tate says the charges against him and his brother are false, and they're based on lies that he says have been concocted by the media.
MARTIN: So for people who haven't been following this story, Greg, tell us again - who is Andrew Tate, and how did he become so famous on social media?
ALLEN: Right. Well, you know, he's a former kickboxing champion who first became well-known nearly 10 years ago on the British version of the reality show "Big Brother." He rose to fame, though, through social media, Twitter - now X - YouTube and TikTok, where he posts about his success and his lifestyle. He's drawn a lot of attention with the outrageous and offensive way in which he's talked about women.
A couple of years ago, he got into an online fight with environmental activist Greta Thunberg - you might recall - when he bragged about his 33 Lamborghinis and other big cars and their enormous emissions, as he called them. Now, he's been in Romania for several years living there. The case against him involves seven women who say they were misled and transported to Romania, where they were then sexually exploited. And he faces those similar charges in the United Kingdom.
MARTIN: Do we know whether the Trump administration did play a role in getting their travel restrictions relaxed so they could come to the U.S.?
ALLEN: The Financial Times reported last week that members of the Trump administration pressed Romanian authorities to lift the travel restrictions. President Trump was asked about that at the White House yesterday, and he said he didn't know anything about it. Here in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis was also asked about it yesterday, whether he had any advanced notice that Andrew Tate and his brother were headed here. And he said no. He also had this to say.
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RON DESANTIS: Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that - with those - that type of conduct in the air. And I don't know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media.
ALLEN: DeSantis says it's up to the federal government, not the state, to decide whether to allow the Tate brothers to enter the country. And he said Florida's attorney general is looking at what jurisdiction the state may have over any of the charges that are outstanding.
Now, both Andrew and Tristan Tate are U.S.-British citizens. Interestingly, President Trump is expected to be at Mar-a-Lago just up the highway in - this weekend, and there's no indication yet of whether or not the Tates might be invited for a visit.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Greg Allen in Miami. Greg, thank you.
ALLEN: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE ALBUM LEAF'S "RHYTHM RESOLVE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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