Joe Exotic finally made it to the White House, in a way.
The subject of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and animal abuse charges, was mentioned during a press briefing with President Donald Trump Wednesday night.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic, is seeking a presidential pardon, claiming he was set up when he attempted to hire an undercover FBI agent to murder Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin, with whom he developed a major feud. Before his arrest and conviction, Maldonado-Passage ran for president and then governor of Oklahoma. It is all addressed in the Netflix docuseries.
A reporter at Trump's daily press briefing, which is mainly for coronavirus pandemic updates, asked Trump if he had watched Tiger King and would consider a pardon for Joe Exotic.
Trump said he had not watched Tiger King, but he was aware of the popularity of the docuseries.
The president toyed with the reporter, asking whether he thought a pardon should be granted. He finally said he would "look into it" with a smirk. It is unclear what the smirk meant. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., previously said he believed Maldonado-Passage should be pardoned.
Before the briefing took place, it was announced that Fox will air a Tiger King special, produced by TMZ, which will feature interviews with people connected to the case and "never-before-seen footage." It is set to air Monday.
