Donald Trump reacts to pardoning Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’
He’s the central figure in the hit Netflix documentary Tiger King, jailed for contracting a hitman to kill his rival. Now Joe Exotic’s public plea for a pardon has been put to Donald Trump.
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Everyone seems to have an opinion about the documentary Tiger King and now the question of whether Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage should be freed from jail has reached the highest levels in America.
US President Donald Trump was asked about the public plea from Maldonado-Passage for a pardon at his daily press conference.
“I’ll take a look at it,” Mr Trump said.
Known widely as Joe Exotic, the former Kansas private zookeeper is serving 22 years jail for contracting a hitman to take out his rival, Florida animal rights activist Carole Baskin.
The pair’s enmity played out in a top-rating Netflix reality show which has captivated a broad, homebound audience.
Mr Trump’s eldest son Donald Jr speculated this week that the sentence seemed “aggressive”.
That led to a surreal exchange between President Trump and reporters in the White House briefing room, as his regular coronavirus briefing was taken up with conjecture about the show.
When asked about one of his son’s talking up a pardon, Mr Trump replied: “Which son? It must be Don.”
“I had a feeling it was Don,” he said, nodding.
When the reporter asked if Mr Trump considered the sentence excessive, he said he wasn’t aware of the intricacies of the case.
“Do you think he didn’t do it? Are you on his side?,” he asked the reporter.
“Are you recommending a pardon? As a reporter, you’re not allowed to do that, you’d be criticised by these (other reporters in the briefing room).”
He then asked the next reporter to question him what he thought.
“I’m not weighing in on Tiger King,” the reporter responded.
Joe Exotic was handed the 22-year sentence in April last year, for two counts of murder-for-hire as well as killing five tigers on his property and selling several more.
The Netflix series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, focused on Joe Exotic and exposed the feuds and criminality of America’s underground big cat community.
It drew 34.3 million viewers in the 10 days since its March 20 release.
Originally published as Donald Trump reacts to pardoning Netflix’s ‘Tiger King’