‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic has given an in-depth interview from prison discussing the upcoming election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Exotic, in the midst of his 21-year sentence for murder-for-hire, spoke at length about how the Republican could beat Harris in November, while offering some of his own criticisms.
The 55-year-old zookeeper also had some advice for the former president, such as stopping using his trademark insults.
Exotic was convicted on two counts of hiring hitmen to murder his own critic, wildlife activist Carole Baskin, in 2019. He was also jailed for violating federal conservation laws, following the raid of his illegal big cat petting zoo.
Netflix’s 2020 smash hit Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness told the story of Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, and the spiral that led to his conviction. He now wants a pardon and a high-ranking government job.
‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic gave an in-depth interview in jail about the impending election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris this week. The former zookeeper is seen here during another interview given in July.
In it, he spoke at length about how the Republican could beat Harris in November, while offering some of his own criticisms.
‘(Trump) needs to explain to people what we can do to make life better for the American people,’ Exotic said. Newsweek Magazine from FMC Fort Worth in Texas.
‘We can’t pay for gas, we can’t pay for rent, we can’t pay for food.
“We need to give something back to the American people where they can take care of themselves,” said the former owner of the Oklahoma zoo.
“If I could explain any of this to the American public, I would win hands down.”
The convict added that he hopes to secure a spot in Trump’s cabinet if he wins.
To do that, Trump will have to “keep his mouth shut and get back on track,” he said.
“Let’s focus on explaining to the American people (the value of) extracting our own oil, our own gas and our own coal,” he told the outlet by phone.
“Let’s get back to how we’re going to sustain America without having to pay every other country for the same thing we can provide here.”
Harris, he said, will “never” get his support. He said of the past three and a half years: “We can’t pay for gas, we can’t pay for rent, we can’t pay for food… We have to put something back where the American people can take care of the American people.”
The words of advice come a year and a half after Exotic announced his own bid for president as a Democrat, before suspending his campaign amid efforts to appeal his conviction.
On July 15, 2021, a U.S. appeals court ruled that his sentence for two attempted murders was wrongly treated as separate, reducing it from 22 years to 21.
In a rare interview in July, Exotic, who revealed he now has prostate cancer, said he is not satisfied with that outcome and is seeking an appeal of the entire case.
“I’m actually appealing my entire case to overturn my conviction,” he told News Channel 8 from a Florida prison at the time, before being transferred to the federal prison in Fort Worth.
Of the past five years, he said, “they’ve been tough, they really have been.”
Speaking to Newsweek, he said he also hopes to secure a presidential pardon from the former president, despite having already secured one towards the end of his first term.
He also expressed a desire to become the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, even though the agency does not allow even regular employees with felony convictions.
“I want to be head of the Fish and Wildlife Service,” he said. “I can save this country millions of dollars because it’s over-regulated.”
The 55-year-old also had some advice for the former president, such as stopping using his trademark insults.
“We’re regulating animals that shouldn’t even be in the United States,” he continued, before citing one of the federal laws he himself violated.
“And the Endangered Species Act is something I’m an expert in. I can almost recite it, word for word.”
The Netflix documentary showed him unnecessarily killing tigers at his Oklahoma zoo. GW Zoo, shooting them in the skull at point-blank range.
Millions of people around the world branded him an animal abuser, leading to his conviction on 17 federal animal abuse charges.
However, the bulk of the sentence stems from two counts of attempted murder, for the failed plot to kill his nemesis and Big Cat Rescue owner, Baskin.
The series focused on this long-standing feud between the self-proclaimed animal activist and Exotic, who is a flamboyant polygamist and then-owner of a private petting zoo.
It also showed how Baskin’s second husband, billionaire Don Lewis, suddenly disappeared without a trace in August 1997 from the Florida wildlife sanctuary they co-owned.
The man, who was 59 at the time, has never been found, nor is there any evidence to suggest he was murdered. That said, police have said they do not believe he disappeared on his own.
The infamous 2021 Netflix documentary showed him unnecessarily killing tigers at his Oklahoma zoo, GW Zoo, by shooting them at point-blank range in the skull.
The series focused on this and on his long-running feud with self-proclaimed animal activist Carole Baskin, who has stayed away from interviews since the series aired.
The zookeeper was jailed for hiring men to murder Baskin and operate his illegal roadside petting zoos in Oklahoma.
Exotic has accused Baskin of killing his tiger and feeding it to her own tigers, allegations she further reiterated in a filmed phone call earlier this week.
The zookeeper also said he has prostate cancer. and possibly lung cancer as well, and for the first time expressed his desire for a new attempt at a presidential pardon.
This week, he said Trump’s team “knows I would like to be in his Cabinet as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” and they have not yet turned down his offer.
Citing how he briefly became a police officer in a small Kansas town before embarking on his dubious career as a petting zoo owner, he said, “I used to be a police chief, so I have law enforcement experience and could do the job.”
“And I think I could do the job a lot cheaper and a lot better for the American people.”
Meanwhile, Exotic has accused Baskin of killing his tiger and feeding it to her own tigers, accusations she further backed up in their filmed phone call a few weeks ago.
“I just wanted her to get out of my sight and leave me alone,” he said of the anti-big cat activist.
“I still think she’s completely crazy and that she killed her husband.”
The zookeeper was jailed for hiring two men to murder Baskin, who drew attention to his illegal roadside petting zoos in Oklahoma.
In his interview with Newsweek, he said the recent furor surrounding Harris will calm down as the election and her potential presidential pardon draws closer.
“I think in the next 60 days, the momentum toward Harris will subside and people will start to see and hear the truth,” he said.
“I’m not going to stop talking… I still believe Trump can do this if he gets on the right track and starts talking about policy and how he’s going to fix the country, instead of all his name-calling.”
Harris, he added, “will never get their support.”