In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce the American-British social media personalities, Tristan and Andrew Tate (@tatethetalisman and @cobratate).
They’re best-known for their social media grifts and allegations of human trafficking and rape.
1/22
The history of the Tate brothers was introduced thoroughly in my original Vatnik Soup thread, but since then so much has happened that this pathetic duo needs another review. The soup will go through a lot of the evidence and videos in which the Tates incriminate themselves.
2/22
The Tates became (relatively) rich through their webcam (pimping?) businesses and self-help courses targeted at young, desperate (incel?) men. At some point, they had up to 75 women working for them, and the brothers later admitted that the business was a “total scam”.
3/22
Later they launched several pyramid scheme-type platforms like “Hustler’s University”, “The Real World” and “War Room”. All of them were costly, required their users to work for Andrew, and offered very little substance. How do we know this? Lemme tell you.
4/22
In Nov 2024, the Tates’ “Real World” Discord clone was hacked and all the information leaked. The Tates stole the code for the server, along with its vulnerabilities, from another project called Revolt. Tech-savvy people realized this and breached and took over the server.
5/22
The hackers stole detailed information of over 320,000 emails, and contents of all public and private chats which were then given to DDoSecrets for anyone to review. According to the metrics, the site was earning the Tates around 5.6 million USD per month.
6/22
In Dec 2022, Romanian police arrested both Tate brothers and two women. All four were suspected of human trafficking, forming an organized crime group and one of them was suspected of rape. The brothers were formally charged in 2023, naming seven alleged victims.
7/22
In 2024 the case grew even bigger: a second indictment mentioned 35 alleged victims of trafficking, including one who was only 15 at the time.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the bros are being investigated in the UK for allegations of rape, human trafficking and tax evasion.
8/22
According to the documents, Andrew “repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse and anal and oral sexual acts,” while “knowing she was 15 years old.” According to her, Andrew also beat her up with a belt and choked her – one time so hard that she fainted.
9/22
Because of these serious allegations, the Tates were put on house arrest and barred from leaving Romania. But in February 2025, they received assistance from a group of corrupt kleptocrats, as the Trump administration suddenly pressured Romania to lift these restrictions.
10/22
For quite some time, the Tates have been fully integrated into the MAGAsphere. They’re friends with Don Jr., Andrew has been interviewed by @TuckerCarlson – in turn promoted by Musk, of course, who has also interacted with him and promoted him on a regular basis.
11/22
It’s not actually known who pressured the Romanian officials to release the Tates, but we can always guess.
For example, “free speech platform” Rumble paid Andrew Tate over 9 million EUR annually. Peter Thiel, JD Vance and David Sacks have all invested in Rumble.
12/22
The reason why the billionaire broligarchs are aligning with the Tates could be related to their wealth and social media influence, especially among young men. 80% of British boys aged 16-17 have seen Andrew’s content, and 45% of British men 16–24 view him positively.
13/22
On 27 Feb 2025, Romania caved in to US pressure, allowing the Tates to flee to the US. Romanian prosecutors said they remain “under judicial supervision”. UK lawyer Matthew Jury,however, said that “any suggestion that the Tates will now face justice in Romania is fanciful.”
14/22
After landing in Florida, Andrew Tate told reporters he and his brother were “largely misunderstood,” insisting the accusations were just a conspiracy against them and that they did nothing wrong. He also declined to comment on whether they’d ever return to Romania.
15/22
But the thing about Andrew Tate is that, even though he always denies any wrongdoings, there’s tons of videos where he admits to them. There’s clips where he’s talking to a woman, ADMITTING that he beat her before. There’s also plenty of other evidence like testimonies.
16/22
Yet, MAGA Republicans champion him as a conservative freedom fighter promoting traditional values. After arriving in the US, he and his brother were “formally welcomed” by the Tampa Bay Young Republicans (@TBYR) and invited to speak at one of their events.
17/22
But not everyone welcomed the Tates with open arms – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated, “Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct.” Maybe the Tates thought they’d be more welcome in a state where @mattgaetz (and Jeffrey Epstein) resided.
18/22
And all these allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of the depravity of Andrew and Tristan Tate. They’ve also threatened to sue a victim of a Pakistani-rape-gang in the UK. And, as is tradition, they’ve also scammed people with their own crypto shitcoin, $DADDY.
19/22
The Tate brothers’ & their father’s allegiance to Putin & Russia were extensively covered in the previous soup. Tristan has been more vocal about the war in Ukraine, but otherwise he's quite unremarkable - he doesn't even have his own Wiki page.
To conclude, the Tates are conmen accused of serious crimes, including sexual acts with a minor.
Yet, somehow, they are being worshipped by most MAGA Republicans who deny their crimes on a regular basis. And now the brothers are fully integrated into the MAGAsphere.
21/22
In Finland, however, the big brother Andrew is best-known for his tendency to “culturally appropriate” Finnish sauna by sitting on the kid’s bench in the measly temperature of 50 ºC, all the while wearing his swimming trunks. And this guy calls himself the “ultimate alpha”.
22/22
The 2nd edition of “Vatnik Soup — The Ultimate Guide to Russian Disinformation” is officially out!
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
1/5
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: