James O'Brien: 'Andrew Potato' is the 'worst kind of misogynist'
3 January 2023, 18:09
James O'Brien reflects on whether he should give Andrew Tate the oxygen of publicity
James O'Brien reflected on the push and pull within media responsibility to report on controversial people while not giving too much attention to people like Andrew Tate who are "desperate" for it.
James O'Brien took a vicious swing at media personality Andrew Tate, who he dubs “the worst sort of misogynist”, in this monologue.
“If you’ve never heard of him, well frankly lucky you”, said James, grappling with the push and pull of media responsibility to report on controversial people while not giving too much attention to people like Andrew Tate who are "desperate" for it.
“I'm not a trained therapist”, James continued, “but If there is not some deep and abiding hatred of his mother involved in what this man purports to be…
“This idea that you haven't been hurt by your mother’s neglect, or your mother’s unkindness or callousness, as a very small person you put enormous amounts of effort into pretending that you haven't been hurt by the lack of mother love”, James asserted.
He said the consequence of this was “hatred or subjugation of women”, and treating them as “inferior” to men and “second-class citizens”.
READ MORE: Andrew Tate ‘tried to recruit daughter of Romanian politician when she was 16’
He shared his initial reluctance to talk about the influencer, saying: “I think there may have been a little bit of self-importance in thinking that the oxygen of publicity that you give to a character like this is so great, that you should cut off the supply.”
James explained it was similar to not wanting to discuss the “EDL man” Tommy Robinson and “Anjem Choudary”. He believed they are all “desperate for attention” and his “inner impulse is not to give it to them”.
James said he was going to “childishly” call him “Andrew Potato for the course of this conversation because he is as ridiculous as he is sinister”.
Hera Hussain tells Sangita Myska how influencer Andrew Tate has infiltrated minds of school children
He then shared the story of Andrew Tate’s tweet directed at Greta Thunberg, boasting of his numerous cars. In a euphemism for the language of her comeback, James called it a reference to the size of his “appendage”.
After Andrew Tate replied with a video featuring pizza boxes that indicated he was in Romania at the time, a police raid on the Bucharest property led to his arrest as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape.
His Twitter account posted after this: “The Matrix sent their agents.”
READ MORE: Andrew Tate will be kept in prison another 30 days, Romanian police say
“He got rinsed every which way by Greta Thunberg”, James said. “The rug was pulled so completely incomprehensibly from beneath this man's feet that he should never have tried to get up.”
James added that one of his godsons “fell under Andrew Tate’s spell”, which prompted him to learn more about the man and talk to his godson about it.
He said it was like a “gateway drug”, noting the “basic misogyny” "with a bit of incel attached to it”.
“You can see why it would appeal to people who can't get a girlfriend and would want to blame it all on girls”, James swiped. “A touch of Jordan Peterson…a celebration of never accepting that perhaps you might be the problem…a celebration of stubbornness.”
James also pointed out that there are many people with childhood trauma who did not become “weapon-grade misogynists” and wondered aloud how “media that aspires to be responsible” how should “handle Andrew Tate”.
He asked: “Should those of us who oppose misogyny be talking about the world's biggest misogynists, despite the fact that by talking about them we give them some of the attention they so desperately crave?”
