Videos of Andrew Tate’s interview with Tucker Carlson are circulating widely on Facebook and YouTube, spreading Tate’s violent and misogynistic views even though he is banned from both platforms. 

On July 11, Carlson interviewed Tate for his new Twitter-based show, even though Tate is under house arrest in Romania as he awaits trial for charges relating to an alleged sex trafficking operation he ran with his brother along with several charges of rape. Carlson has been a vocal defender of Tate, calling the charges against him a “set-up” and defending his rhetoric as “the most needed message anyone can hear.”

Tate, who is known for his violently misogynistic commentary, is banned from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok over the bigoted and incendiary rhetoric common in his content. After Tate’s social media ban, Carlson gave him a platform to whitewash his rhetoric and play the victim to supposed social media censorship. Videos featuring Tate, often posted by fan accounts that Tate himself had incentivized to share his content, continued to circulate on social media platforms in open defiance of his bans. Now, Tate’s hate-filled interview with Carlson is appearing on the same platforms he has been banned from for over a year. 

Tate used his interview with Carlson to spew conspiracy theories and hate speech 

• Carlson insinuated that the charges against Tate are part of a conspiracy to silence him for speaking his opinions. He said, “As of today, not a single woman has come forward to say that she was kidnaped or imprisoned or moved across international borders against her will by Andrew or Tristan Tate. … Accusing a man of a sex crime is the fastest possible way to discredit what he's saying.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Carlson claimed transgender people are the endpoint of the supposed decline of traditional gender roles, which Tate suggested would lead to “slavery.” Tate responded that “a large part of this transsexual movement … is a deliberate attack on us and our senses because they are trying to convince us to ignore our eyes,” adding, “Once they can convince you that your senses are wrong, well then you’re completely open to slavery.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate said that individuals who receive gender-affirming care are “going to be so miserable for the rest of your life.” Tate claimed, “If you chop off your genitals and take a whole bunch of chemicals as a teenager, you’re going to be miserable for the rest of your life.” He went on to say, “Perhaps they have a mental instability before this trans stuff, and that's why they're more prone to suicide in the first place.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Carlson claimed that countries in Europe have been “completely changed by people from other countries” and that “in general, they're not better countries” because of immigration. Tate then asked, “Is this purposeful? These two actions of neutering the native populace and importing these high-testosterone Third Worlders are so at odds with each other.” Carlson responded, “They’re probably not happening by accident, right? There’s got to be some intent. How could there not be?” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate compared COVID-19 lockdowns to the Holocaust. He said: “When I experienced COVID, it’s actually scary. You see how the Nazis managed to do what they did. You see how they managed to put people in concentration camps.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate claimed that “women are some of the most powerful people on the planet,” calling them “gatekeepers” and “the ultimate judges, especially of sexual access.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate claimed that “female promiscuity has always been hated, and in every holy book it's disliked.” He added that “it’s not empowering” and “she's dishonoring herself and she's never going to be happy or fulfilled jumping from bed to bed.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate declared that “women are also largely in charge of the psyop” and “being controlled by the mass media as a whole” after claiming that “women are more susceptible to programming to a degree.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]
• Tate claimed that LGBTQ people “need your children” to “have a community in the future.” He went on to remark: “For there to be a homosexual community 100 years from now, they need straight people's kids because only straight people have children.” [Twitter, Tucker on Twitter, 7/11/23]

On YouTube, videos from the interview have been posted by a number of prominent right-wing media personalities

• At least 5 channels uploaded the interview in its entirety with another 6 uploading clips, and the videos earned over 2.2 million views in total. One upload of the entire interview reached over 1 million views. [YouTube, 7/13/23]
• Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted the two-plus-hour interview in its entirety to YouTube. Even though he later stated on his Real America’s Voice show that Tate has done things that he considered “reprehensible,” Kirk still admitted that “I agree with almost everything he was saying.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 7/12/23; YouTube, 7/13/23]
• Turning Point USA influencer Benny Johnson live-reacted to roughly eight minutes of the interview on YouTube. Johnson celebrated Tate and Carlson as “two alphas sitting in a room,” calling them “the two most uncancellable men on the internet,” before showing clips from the interview. [YouTube, 7/12/23]
• Right-wing commentator Dave Rubin showed clips from the Tate interview during his daily livestream on YouTube. Rubin previously defended Tate when he was originally arrested for alleged human trafficking, and he again dismissed the criminal charges against Tate as simply “controversial.” [YouTube, 7/12/23]
• Rumble-exclusive livestreamer The Quartering discussed the interview for nearly 12 minutes on YouTube, and dismissed the charges levied against Tate by claiming it looks “awfully suspicious” that he was arrested and is still awaiting trial. [YouTube, 7/12/23]
• Videos uploaded by Johnson, Rubin, No Jumper, and The Quartering are currently monetized, meaning that both YouTube and the people who uploaded those videos are profiting off advertisements that are playing before clips of Tate. [YouTube, 7/13/23]

Facebook users shared links to the interview on Rumble, a website filled with hate speech and conspiracy theories

• Users in at least 7 right-wing Facebook groups, several with pro-Trump titles, shared links to YouTube and Rumble streams of Tate’s interview with Carlson. While most shared links to a copy of the interview uploaded to YouTube, at least 2 shared links to Rumble, a right-wing alternative to YouTube that has become a hive of hate speech, conspiracy theories, and unchecked bigotry. [Facebook, 7/13/23; Media Matters, 7/6/23, 5/4/23, 6/7/23]
• Johnson, who also uploaded a portion of the interview to YouTube, uploaded a segment to his Facebook page. Johnson posted a screen capture of his tweet featuring an 8-minute clip from the interview. [Facebook, 7/12/23]