Who is Andrew Tate? He, his brother arrive in Florida. What DeSantis said

• Andrew Tate is an online influencer and self-proclaimed misogynist with millions of followers
• Tate and his brother Tristan have been restricted to Romania where they face charges of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors and more
• The Romanian court allowed them to leave, reportedly after a request from someone in the Trump administration

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After Romanian prosecutors lifted a travel ban, internet personality and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan flew to Fort Lauderdale Thursday on a private jet, according to Mateea Petrescu, the brothers’ spokesperson.

The Tate brothers are under investigation in Romania on accusations of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering. They have denied all wrongdoing.

In a press conference in Starke Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to a reporter's question about their arrival, saying, "We have no involvement in that. I read about it through the media. Clearly the federal government has jurisdiction whether they want to rebuff his entry into the United States.”

DeSantis added that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was looking at what jurisdiction Florida may have to deal with the arrival of the brothers. “The reality is no, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct.”

The decision to lift the ban came after officials in the Trump administration reportedly put pressure on Romania. Tate's fan base is heavily right-wing and male and he has been a strong supporter of President Donald Trump.

A self-described misogynist, social media influencer Tate has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine attitude that critics say denigrates women.

Emory Andrew Tate III, 38, is a former professional kickboxer who gained notoriety for promoting an extreme view of men and women. He appeared on the 17th season of the British reality show "Big Brother" but was removed after six days after a video showed him hitting a woman with a belt and telling a woman to count while he did so. Vice later reported that the producers dropped him when they became aware of an ongoing rape investigation, which was later dropped.

Tate and his brother Tristan started a webcam studio with up to 75 webcam models which he later admitted was a scam, according to GQ, and opened several different online schools to encourage teenage boys and young men to forego traditional life paths and instead focus on making as much money as possible through unconventional, mostly online means.

Tate's popularity exploded online due to his increasingly inflammatory statements, claiming women were partially responsible for being raped, depression isn't real, Nazis might not have been the bad guys in World War II, women belong to men, and has defended other people accused of sexual assault such as actor Russell Brand.

TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all blocked his accounts, although he was reinstated on Twitter after Elon Musk bought the social media company.

Tate has said such comments were jokes or taken out of context.

Tate and his brother were arrested in their home near Bucharest in August amid new charges against the brothers and four other suspects for trafficking and having sexual intercourse with a child, BBC news reported.

There is also a British arrest warrant out on the brothers on allegations of rape and serious physical and sexual assaults dating back to 2012-2015 in the UK. Romania granted the extradition request, but only after the Romanian legal proceedings are completed. British police have also started a civil case against them for alleged tax evasion.

A first Romanian criminal case against the Tates failed in December when the court cited problems with the indictment and sent the files back to the prosecutors, according to Reuters. Tate was under house arrest from August, when he faced a second Romanian criminal case, until January.

The Tates are under judicial control, a light preventative measure under which they are required to check in with the police regularly.

USA TODAY reported that, in February, a Florida woman listed only as Jane Doe filed a countersuit against Andrew and Tristan Tate in the first U.S. case brought against the brothers. She said she met him in Miami in 2021 when he teased her with a romantic relationship before she flew to Romania to visit him. While there, she feared that she and the other women at the house were being groomed to sexual videos and they made a plan to escape together, according to court documents.

After the women got free of the Tates, with the help of Romanian authorities who raided the brothers compound in April 2022, the Tates sued her, another woman and some witnesses, saying Doe was "a serial extortionist and blackmailer who preys on successful men." 

Jane Doe's countersuit alleges sex trafficking by force and/or coercion, conspiracy to violate the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, defamation, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Since filing it, she says she has been bombarded with online harassment, including sharing of personally identifiable information about her.

Andrew Tate, who was born in Washington, DC, and his brother Tristan have dual U.S.-UK citizenship.

Contributing: Luiza Ilie, Reuters and Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY