‘T“Anyone who wants to be a politician will be banned for life from being a politician,” comedian Billy Connolly once said. Nothing could be more true. There was a time when unapologetic narcissists and sociopaths were featured on reality TV shows. Now they all seem to be pivoting to podcasts and politics.
The latest political aspiring candidate is Andrew Tate, the British-American self-proclaimed misogynist and influencer who was humiliated by Greta Thunberg. He’s suddenly very interested in becoming Prime Minister of the UK, which makes sense given the legal mess he’s in. Tate and his brother Tristan are being investigated by Romanian authorities on charges including forming an organized crime group. Human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sex with minors, money laundering. As Donald Trump, a convicted felon and convicted sexual abuser, has proven, you can get away with absolutely anything as long as you have enough power. There is no better get-out-of-jail card than being in charge of a prison.
Tate’s political ambitions include him bragging about strangling women and saying he dates 18- to 19-year-old teens “so he can leave a mark” on them. As subtle and developed as you would expect from a man. Earlier this month, he conducted a poll on X, asking his millions of followers whether they should “run for Prime Minister of the UK”. There were two voting options. “Yes. Save Brittan (sic)” or “No.”
Not only does Tate not know how to spell British, he also doesn’t seem to understand that, unlike the American president, he can’t actually run for prime minister. Nevertheless, his followers cheered him on, and Tate launched a political party called Restoration of British Fundamental Values (Bruv), which promised to “restore pride to a nation under siege”. I use the term “political party” loosely. Tate does not appear to have done all the paperwork to register Bruv as a political party, leading us to imagine that this is probably little more than a hastily put together X account. It is as close to a full-fledged party as the political party I am soon to launch, Britain Rejects Oligarchy, or Bro.
While Brub is clearly a publicity stunt, it is important not to discount Tate’s political ambitions as an idle attention-seeker. It’s true that Tate is highly unlikely to become prime minister, but trolls like him already play a huge role in politics, and their influence only seems to be growing. Indeed, the reason why Tate was suddenly so inspired by the electoral system is that Elon Musk, the patron saint of Extremely Online men with a giant chip on his shoulder, is obsessed with meddling in British politics. It seems highly likely that this is because of this. When he’s not tweeting about whether the US should “liberate” Britain from the “tyrannical government” under Keir Starmer, the South African-born billionaire is meeting with various allies to influence regime change in the UK. They are reportedly discussing strategy.
Initially, it appeared that Mr Musk – who clearly sees himself as a kingmaker after his success in funding the Trump campaign – was keen on Nigel Farage to lead the UK. . The two sides are now at loggerheads, with Mr Musk declaring that Mr Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the Reform Party. The billionaire’s new darling appears to be convicted far-right provocateur Tommy Robinson. Earlier this year, Musk made headlines for calling for Robinson’s release. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Tate’s blue party was just a desperate attempt to get Mr. Musk’s attention and woo the tech mogul’s affections in place of Mr. Robinson.
Musk has retweeted Tate before, but it’s unclear how well the two know each other. But the lower classes clearly have American friends in high places. Tate boasts that he has spoken to Barron Trump, and during a recent appearance on the right-wing podcast The Benny Show, Trump’s lawyer and adviser to the president-elect, Alina Haba, admitted that she is a big fan of Tate. He spoke passionately about this. Once upon a time, the idea that an extremist like Tate might have any meaningful influence on politics was laughable. Now it seems like it’s no longer a joke.
Arwa Mahdawi is a columnist for the Guardian
