The Andrew Tate circus is back in town. In a muddle of impassioned platitudes, masculine evocation and spelling mistakes, the Tate brothers have claimed they are making a push for the keys to Downing Street.
It’s confused, filled with over-stylized attempts to simplify one of the toughest jobs out there through the simple act of being a bro. It’s transparent too, espousing troubling affection for racially-motivated and homophobic rhetoric and yet, within its first 16 hours of existence, had amassed over 50,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter.
Tate, who is awaiting trial on rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, has been widely mocked for the party, which at the time of writing was not on the electoral register. It is named with the acronym BRUV, a word with its own meaning in the dictionary as an abbreviation for the word brother, but in this context is claimed to stand for Britain Restoring Underlying Values.
So far it seems to have pledged allegiance to the US and waxed lyrical about vague, stirring notions of ‘a call to action’ and dystopian takes on the migrant crisis. One particularly macabre line in the marketing material reads “we have no obligation to save you from that boat, no matter how rough the sea.”
(Image: X)
Among the bizarre policies was a pledge to offer a “24/7 live broadcast of knife crime offenders serving solitary confinement” and introduce ‘boxing and wrestling in schools’.
Somehow, this seems to appeal to lot of people. In the X comments on BRUV’s newly-created account, the usual fanfare of smoke blowing appeared in the comments, as if to prove that, if nothing else, despite the criminal allegations, despite the misogyny, people really do like him.
“This is why you can never underestimate winners,” one comment read. “They are motivated by a different force than the normal person.” Despite Tate claiming he is striving to become the Prime Minister, another said “Real president”. “I can already see the future,” noted a third.
Despite the spectrum of deplorable words and actions used by Tate, he has managed to maintain the support of a murky, nebulous following online. The reason for this, according to Niloufar Esmaeilpour, a Clinical Counsellor at Lotus Therapy & Counselling Centre, is that figures like Tate offer people who are struggling a template for improving their own self-image.
(Image: Andrew Tate/Instagram)
“People are attracted to Andrew Tate because he really puts himself across as very confident, rich, and living this life that’s so glamorous, which is very appealing to people who feel maybe a bit lost or are looking for some sense of direction,” she said. “And it’s just human nature when people feel lost or unsatisfied with their own life to be drawn to figures that come across as very confident and offer quick fixes.
“From my clinical experience, people who relate to his brand often feel that their personal struggles with self-esteem or identity will be resolved by adopting a similar combative and unapologetic approach to life. A deep-seated wish to feel this kind of empowerment may lead them to minimize or deny controversies that surround him because acknowledging those issues may undermine a sense of hope and validation they derive from his message.”
From this position, she says, supporters start to feel part of something, and any attacks on the figurehead signify attacks on each follower too. “The many supporters of Tate seem to sometimes look the other way regarding his many problematic behaviors because they get swept into this sort of ‘in-group’ mentality, in which to criticize the figure one admires is to somehow personally threaten their beliefs,” she said. “In embracing his worldview, they find a sense of belonging and camaraderie reassuring at the psychological level. They might tell themselves that Tate’s critics are jealous or misunderstanding his intentions, rather than facing the fact that some of his statements are harmful or offensive.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
For New York-based hypnotherapist Erin Weinstein, the matter is one based around feeling out of step with a changing world.
“I see these who seem like such good hearted guys, fall into this black hole of Andrew Tate,” she explained. “Over the past five years, society has gone through a lot of changes, the role of what defines a man, what defines woman has become a lot more grey which is a lot of ways is amazing, it leaves people to be empowered more than they have been before. But on the other hand, other people have been left a little bit lost, everything they’ve learned about their lives, now they have to throw it out the window and they’re wondering ‘who am I?’”
Tate, then, provides a port in the storm for people in this position. “What Andrew Tate provides, is he can validate the belief that men have… [he makes then think] ‘this is a guy who represents the ideal man,’ as he validates more of their internalised beliefs.
“How he speaks taps into this nostalgia for simpler times, before gender roles became a little more grey. For him they are clear, they are unchallenged… there’s an emotional security in that.”
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But these coping mechanisms and idolisation are only part of the story. Susceptible people also need to be exposed to the ideas, and those ideas, are online.
Jessica Redman, founder of search company Didgeheads, said: “Ultimately it’s always down to engagement, so if someone is posting something that is quite polarising or making a comment that is controversial about politics, something that’s going to lead to retweets, reposts, comments and shares, what happens is you get both sides of that argument sharing and engaging. So they’re really passionate about disagreeing, they’ll repost and comment, and you’ll get people that agree and they’ll repost and comment.
“So when you have really controversial viewpoints on things and you’re posting stuff that’s super polarising, you’ll get double the amount of people engaging with your content on a consistent basis. Basically, that’s telling the algorithm that people are really interested in this content, they’re engaging with it a lot and the algorithm reacts to that so it’s going to serve it to more people and it goes in a loop, that endless cycle that keeps repeating itself.
(Image: Getty Images)
“There’s almost a sweet spot of controversy and [prolific social media personalities] play on that, they know that a certain kind of hot take – snapshot takes and one off sentences – that is very retweetable and shareable.”
She added: “The way the algorithm works, if you’re agreeing with something and you’re engaging, commenting on it, sharing it with your friends you’re telling the algorithm ‘this is what I want to see’ you’re not going to be exposed to a big variety of world views, different opinions that might help give you a critical analysis of an opinion – the algorithm is going to share things that just reinforce your preexisting world view, so you’re constantly getting feedback that other people feel this way.
“Once I’ve engaged a few times with an Elon Musk character, I’m going to be served people that are sharing very similar ideas… you’re constantly being served propaganda that just reinforces what you’re already engaged with.”
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
This is why some people keep coming back online, time and time again, says Matthew Kaing CEO at eSudo Technology Solutions. “Where figures like Elon Musk, Andrew Tate, or even Fox News are concerned, such individuals generally poise a lot of engagement, therefore feeding more into the algorithm for making their content trend higher,” he said. “Controversial opinions, polarising statements, and high-profile personalities tend to attract more attention and thus become more visible. Algorithms go in for the virality of some content because it sparks conversations, either for or against, and this is one of the major benchmarks for more traffic and sustaining the audience.
“When we hear people are interested in Andrew Tate, I think it’s really easy to judge them.
“But try to remember that we all want to feel in control, that we all want to feel accepted,” Erin explained. Instead she encouraged trying to “understand what is leading to these beliefs, what is shutting these people out – because what’s leading them to be interested in Andrew Tate is the feeling of being shut out of society today.”