The Matrix and the 'satanic elite': The bizarre links between Trump and vile misogynist Andrew Tate

White House official Paul Ingrassia thinks self-declared misogynist Andrew Tate is ‘the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence’ who is standing up to a ‘deep state’ that is trying to ‘oppress all men from womb-to-tomb’

Amidst recent geopolitics, the Tate brothers were released in Romania and travelled by private plane to Florida. I wonder how many people saw a statement from one of their former lawyers, Paul Ingrassia – now a White House liaison to the US Justice Department – about Andrew Tate.

It read: “He is the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence: to seek perfection of mind, body, and spirit – an ideal that is radically at odds with our grotesquely decadent society, which values security and mediocrity over human excellence among men.

“It is for this reason that he and his brother have become public enemies number one and two in the eyes of the Matrix, the deep state, and the satanic elite that attempt to systematically program and oppress all men from womb-to-tomb...”

Andrew Tate, wearing sunglasses, attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in Las Vegas on Saturday (Picture: Ian Maule) | Getty Images

Incels spewing hatred of women

The Tates’ playbook is as misogynistic pickup artists and they face allegations of rape and human-trafficking, which they deny. We are truly through the looking glass.

Where do you start unpicking what’s wrong? Were you drawn to “in the eyes of the Matrix”? A bizarre comment, referencing a 26-year-old film. Who knows what exactly was in Ingrassia’s mind but it sounds to me like a dog-whistle to people who subscribe to a culture where misogyny is acceptable, desirable and clever. A culture where those enmeshed in it are ‘incels’, involuntary celibates, who live predominantly online, in the manosphere, spewing hatred about women and their subjugation.

This culture has its own lexicon, which includes The Matrix ‘pill’ terms which signal a person’s progression through radicalisation. The red pill means you are awakened and see the world as they think it is – women taking over.

The black pill is for those who are nihilistic and often linked to death cults, talk of suicide and “going ER”. This refers to Elliot Rodger, who killed six people after posting a manifesto referring to women as “beasts” incapable of having morals or rational thought and who needed to be controlled and coerced.

Millions of subscribers

Women are ‘femoids’, a slur meaning that, in relation to men, we are unintelligent with the functions of a robot. The cherry on the cake is the use of hand signs – like gang members – a non-verbal way of telling others you are part of this group.

This is no longer an online phenomenon; it is seen from the classroom to the boardroom. It’s facilitated and amplified by people with power, and it’s gaining more traction. It warps and threatens relationships, slithering into our homes through our devices. Parents can be oblivious to it, not understanding its grip and reach – 10.7 million people subscribe online to Tate’s comments on this sewage.

How can we tackle such overwhelming numbers? We cannot abandon our boys and men to this cult which is built to damage them as much as women. It peddles a false notion of supremacy that, at its heart, is about subjugation of everyone but the small few who amass profit from its spread.

There are no easy answers but the only solution must involve us all. Regardless of gender and generation, we need an understanding that we have more in common than not. And that those who seek to divide us do so only for their own selfish desire for wealth and power.

Karyn McCluskey is chief executive of Community Justice Scotland