Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that manosphere influencer and alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate is not welcome in Florida, exposing a schism among MAGA social media users.
Firing back at news that Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate (who is also facing trafficking charges), are en route from Romania to the Sunshine State, the Florida governor made his displeasure apparent at a press conference on Thursday.
“No, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct,” he said.
Tate, a self-described misogynist who cultivated an immense online following, was able to come to the states after Romania lifted a travel ban on the brothers—reportedly under pressure from Donald Trump’s administration.
DeSantis said that he was given no advance notice about the Tates’ arrival in his state; he learned about it from media reports.
“I don’t know how it came to this,” he said. “We were not involved.”
“Clearly, the federal government has jurisdiction,” DeSantis said, adding that he was confident that the Trump administration will look into sending Tate back.
The Republican also said, though, that he has the state’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, “looking into what state hooks and jurisdictions we may have to be able to deal with this.”
Tate has been an outspoken supporter of Trump, saying that the president is “saving America along with the entire western world.”
“The Tates will be free, Trump is the president,” Tate wrote in an X post earlier this month. “The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever.”
Trump has not publicly espoused support for Tate. The same cannot be said of his administration members.
Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said that Trump envoy Richard Grenell had discussed Tate’s case with him, although Grenell told The Financial Times that the discussion was not substantive.
However, he added, “I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets.”
DeSantis’ flat-out objection to the Tate brothers’ presence in his state sparked dismay from some MAGA users on X.
“Decisions like this are why so many Conservatives have lost respect for Ron DeSantis,” wrote pro-Trump influencer Evan Kilgore. “I will never support him again.”
Valentina Gomez, a MAGA congressional hopeful with over 400,000 followers, wrote, “Ron Desantis is a hypocrite. Andrew & Tristan have gone through the same allegations Trump, Hegseth, Conor McGregor and many other extremely successful men have faced. Welcome to the America.”
She called DeSantis and Uthmeier “just two emasculated boys.”
Some MAGA users came to Desantis’ defense, however.
“Good for DeSantis,” wrote @Sea_Glass1115, who frequently posts in support of Trump. “He’s protecting his citizens. Literally his job.”
MAGA supporter Utsav Sanduja kept it simple: “Lock them up.”
