(Headline USA) Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix’s Tiger King series, announced this week that he plans to run for president in 2024 — from jail.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence after being found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin. He asked his fans to look past the fact that he is “incarcerated and gay” and help him “take the country back.”
“Thank you for your interest in my Campaign. Yes, I know I am in Federal Prison and you might think this is a joke but it’s not. It is my Constitutional right to do this even from here,” Exotic’s 2024 website states. “I have been put here only because of the corruption in the Department of Justice, three felons that were told how to lie under oath to further this agenda, two corrupt Assistant U.S. Attorneys, two corrupt FBI Agents, and one corrupt Federal Wildlife Agent.”
Exotic also told the public to ignore accusations that he treated tigers and other animals inhumanely.
“The only thing I did was put five very old, crippled tigers to sleep in the most humane way possible and it was approved by my USDA Inspector, so it’s time to get over it. PETA kills thousands of animals a year. Carole [Baskin] has killed over 226 big cats and most of you eat some kind of animal everyday, so it’s time to move past this issue,” he said.
Exotic said he is running for president because he wants “answers” from politicians who “lie to all of us, take our hard earned money calling it taxes, and give it away to foreign countries without them giving us anything back.”
“Everyone of you will be answered and listened to because this country is you–not them. We have let them run it for way to long and look at where we are?” he said.
Exotic lost an appeal last year to reduce his prison sentence. Baskin testified against his appeal, telling the judge that she was fearful he could come after her if released early.
