Gov. Ron DeSantis didn't know that right-wing podcaster Andrew Tate, facing rape and trafficking charges in Romania, was flying to Florida until he read about it in the media Thursday morning.
And the Florida Governor, who's taken a strong stance against sexual crimes throughout his two terms, is not pleased.
"I have confidence that whether it's [U.S. Attorney General] Pam Bondi or [Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem, that they will be looking at [rebuffing Tate's entry]," DeSantis said at a Thursday morning press conference in Starke, before noting that while the issue is a federal one, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is looking into what "state hooks and jurisdiction" the Sunshine State may have.
"The reality is no, Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct," DeSantis continued. "I don't know how it came to this. We were not involved, and we were not notified."
Uthmeier has since partnered with state law enforcement to conduct a "preliminary inquiry," promising to hold the alleged criminals accountable if their supposed crimes "trigger Florida jurisdiction," he said on social media.
The New York Times reported early Thursday that British-American influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate boarded a flight to Florida from Romania, where they've been held since 2022 on charges of rape, human trafficking, money laundering, and starting an organized crime group. They've denied all wrongdoing.
Prosecutors lifted a travel ban on the brothers allegedly after President Donald Trump's administration asked Romanian authorities to ease restrictions on Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist who garnered a mass following for his "alpha male" views, podcast, and book, unsurprisingly titled "The Way of Alpha." Romania's Foreign Ministry denies any U.S. pressure in the lifted ban.
The brothers, who landed in Fort Lauderdale around 11 a.m., are expected to head back to Romania for their next court appearance on March 24, their defense lawyer told CNN.
The older, more well-known, and more criminally accused brother, Andrew, has racked up billions of views on social media platforms like TikTok and X for his views on female submission and male dominance. A four-time kickboxing world champion, Tate's controversial beliefs include claiming that women should "bear responsibility" for sexual assault—a view that got him banned from Twitter before it became X, where he's since been reinstated.
The Tate brothers were first detained in Bucharest, Romania in Dec. 2022 as part of an investigation into alleged rape and human trafficking. They were charged six months later and banned from leaving the country. In March 2024, British police were granted a warrant to extradite the elder Tate to the UK on other allegations of rape and human trafficking, the BBC reported.
Separately, in May 2024, four women in the UK brought a civil case against the brothers, seeking damages for alleged injuries incurred after a sexual assault. In July 2024, the two began to fend off another civil case in the UK alleging that they hadn't paid any taxes on the revenue brought in from their online businesses, including their platform "Hustlers University."
The two deny all wrongdoing and have since set off for Florida.
DeSantis, meanwhile, has been a strong opponent of human trafficking and sexual crimes. Most recently, he approved $4.9 million in the state budget to expand access to emergency beds for trafficking victims, established a $900,000 grant through the Department of Children and Families to enhance anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, and signed a slew of legislation targeting online predators.
