Craig Whyte defends Andrew Tate as disgraced ex Rangers chief says he's been persecuted like controversial influencer

Disgraced ex Rangers chief Craig Whyte has offered sympathy to self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate - hours before police carried out fresh raids on the controversial influencer who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Tate is known for expressing misogynistic views online and has amassed almost 10 million followers on the social media platform X. The 37-year-old is facing trial in Romania but repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.

The former kickboxer rose to fame after an appearance on Big Brother in 2016, during which he only lasted six days before being removed following the emergence of a video that appeared to show him attacking a woman. Tate said at the time that the footage had been edited and was "a total lie trying to make me look bad”.

Now Whyte has likened his own situation to Tate when it comes to treatment he has received by the media during his Rangers takeover which saw him arrested and charged with fraud before he was acquitted by a jury two years later following a seven-week trial.

Whyte bought the club, which was facing a potential huge tax bill, from David Murray for just £1 and during the court case his associate Phil Betts said the purchase was completed when a pound coin was flipped in a "light-hearted" way at Murray’s lawyers.

Betts, a finance broker and a key associate in the buyout, told the court that someone then said: "Congratulations, you are now the owner of Glasgow Rangers football club”.

But Whyte, speaking on Craig Campbell SEO's No Money Down Deals podcast, podcast, said: “There’s stories in the press that say I flicked a