‘Nigel Farage’s Endorsement of Andrew Tate’s Matrix Won’t Win My Vote’

Andrew Tate needs no introduction. The perma-sunglasses-sporting, walking-talking walnut-in-a-condom has grown rich and influential by preaching a liturgy of misogyny and toxic masculinity to a willing audience of teenage boys and lost little men.

Former kickboxer Tate’s online ventures, which have included ‘Hustler’s University’ and a webcam business have, he claims, made himself and his brother Tristan multi-millionaires despite the latter business, in his own words, being “a total scam”.

Ever since Tate first rose to prominence, as a contestant on Big Brother in 2016, accusations have dogged him. As of June 2024, there are three legal cases against him pending: two in Romania and a civil case in the UK. They all involve accusations of abusive behaviour towards women and include human trafficking and sexual assault.

Tate’s creed is best summed up in his own observations:

Tate has expressed even more disturbing and violent opinions on how women should be treated – including, notoriously, suggesting that if a woman accuses her male partner of cheating on her:

And now we learn that this is an influencer who Nigel Farage, Leader of the Reform party and prospective parliamentary candidate for Clacton, thinks is an “important voice” for young men.

On an appearance on the Strike It Big podcast, aired in February more than a year after Tate was first arrested, Farage – while agreeing that the self-styled king of the manosphere had uttered some “pretty horrible things”, also suggested that he was a role model for teenage boys as he would give them “perhaps a bit of confidence at school”. 

In another interview on the Disruptors podcast in August 2023, while making it clear that he preferred Jordan Peterson’s ideas to Tate’s, he nonetheless described the former kick-boxer as a “fascinating figure” and placed himself firmly in the Tate-Jordan camp:

This is dangerous and patronising stuff.

So what does a 19-year-old boy make of it?

Otto English

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Ultimately Unappealing

Firstly, it’s important to understand why some teenage boys of my generation – I am 19 – might be drawn to Andrew Tate.

To some extent – and I hate to admit it – Farage does have a point. Whether rational or not, many young men at school and college feel marginalised and angry. At an age when many are seeking to understand their sexuality, Tate – with his confident air, Fast and Furious vibe, and brash unabashed masculinity – sits in stark contrast to the ‘woke agenda’ he has set himself against.

Many teenage boys, and even some of those in my circle at school, can be a bit insular and think that they are experiencing things worse than those in society who are really suffering. Tate appeals to this group. He makes them feel empowered and acknowledged. And so, those who have struggled through the pandemic, or who might feel insecure or unheard, and even those who might have wrestled with their mental health, see him as a sort of answer to their inner woes.

Many of these young men who hero-worship him do not (at least they say this) buy wholesale into the misogyny he spouts, and will frequently dismiss his more ‘out there’ statements as ‘ironic’ or ‘humorous’. They will also tone it down in front of women and girls in their circle.

Meanwhile, his entry level ‘philosophical musings’ on the ‘matrix’, which promote the idea that we can all escape mainstream society and do our own thing, appeal to those who do not have fully formed brains – or who haven’t read any actual philosophers.

Personally, every time I hear the word ‘matrix’ used in that way, I cringe – and I think it’s important to stress too that Tate does not appeal to the majority of teenage boys and young men, but just those who are susceptible to this toxic creed. These are often young people who need support and a bit more confidence. To suggest that Tate is that panacea is absolute nonsense because anyone who takes a moment to read his appalling views on women will rightly be shocked.

That Nigel Farage thinks that it is okay to express admiration for him, in any form, is quite shocking. But it’s also stupid, because if he thinks there are votes in this he is very much mistaken.

Most of the boys who are drawn to Tate are aged between 13 and 17 and are too young to vote. Most of the rest of us think he’s embarrassing and toxic and, of course, more than half of students are women. I believe that students like myself, who can actually vote, will most certainly not be casting a ballot for Reform in any big numbers, not least because Farage’s patronising and dismissive attitude towards us over the past 10 years has not gone unnoticed. 

Ultimately, all of this is deeply cynical and nothing to do with the real concerns of young men at all. Nigel appeals to ‘old England’ and, as much as he might claim otherwise, he quite clearly doesn’t give a flying Farage for the rest of us. 

James Scott