The 20-year-old crypto bro likes to keep a low profile. He could still be forced to testify before the House oversight committee

Unlike his garrulous father, Barron Trump seems to be a man of few words. The president’s youngest son has been busy flogging energy drinks and making millions from cryptocurrency schemes, but he’s not big on public speaking. Indeed, the best-known clip of him talking is probably from when he was four years old and said “I like my suitcase” in a Slovenian accent.

Still, while 20-year-old Barron Trump might prefer to stay behind the scenes, he may find himself hauled in front of Congress and forced to answer some difficult questions. Last week, Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic congresswoman and a member of the House oversight committee, called for Barron to testify about his alleged connections to the toxic influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate. The Tate brothers, who have become household names by monetising misogyny, were recently arrested in Miami, just before Andrew was due to co-host a bare-knuckle boxing event. They’re now fighting extradition to the UK, and face allegations of rape, assault, trafficking and offences relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography”. They deny these charges.

The party’s silence shows how broadly male supremacist thinking has seeped into the conventional wisdom of political strategists

It’s not exactly strange that elements of the Magaverse have embraced Andrew Tate. What’s strange is that the Democrats do not seem interested in holding the Trump movement to account for it.

Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer who is accused by numerous women around the world and now by British prosecutors of rape and strangulation, as well as assault, sex trafficking, possession of child abuse images and extreme pornography, and various other forms of gender violence and exploitation, was arrested in Miami last week, along with Tristan, his brother and sidekick. Or I should say, they were rearrested: the men were previously charged in Romania, where they were under house arrest until, following some conveniently timed diplomatic moves from the Trump administration, they were allowed to leave the country and resettled in the US. When asked if the Trump administration had secured their release from Romania back then, the Tates’ lawyer said: “Do the math. These guys are on the plane.” Now, finally, they are awaiting extradition to the UK, where they are dual citizens.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist