Ben Shapiro, presenter of his own form of toxic masculinity that is somehow more performative than Tate’s, tweeted “America does not need more self-proclaimed pimps and terror supporters with outstanding criminal allegations of sex trafficking and a history of pornographic distribution” in response to the news of Tate’s arrival. Republican Senator Josh Hawley told reporters, “I would hope our government wasn’t involved in any way. My view is that charges against him are very serious…I don’t think conservatives should be glorifying this guy at all.”
And then there’s Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has to figure out what to do with Tate now that he’s apparently posted up in his state. During a press conference, DeSantis said, “Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air, and I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved, we were not notified. I found out through the media that this was something that was happening.” DeSantis also said that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is actively looking into “what state hooks and jurisdiction we may have to be able to deal with this.”