Donald Trump to 'take a look' at Tiger King's Joe Exotic's pardon

The US president was asked about the hit Netflix show during a White House press briefing

Trump to look into pardoning Joe Exotic

Trump to look into pardoning Joe Exotic
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With much of the world stuck indoors under coronavirus lockdown, everyone has an opinion on Netflix's hit show Tiger King – and now even US President Donald Trump has been asked for his ten cents.

During a White House briefing on Wednesday, President Trump said he would "take a look" at a request for pardon from the show's star, Joe "Exotic" Maldonado-Passage. 
In comments that came in response to a question by a New York Post reporter on the case and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr's support for a pardon, he asked: "Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon?"

He then asked around the briefing room: “Would you recommend a pardon?”

The docu-series, which has the tagline "Mayhem, Madness and Murder", tells the story of the life of Joe Exotic, the one-time owner of a private zoo with over 200 tigers and other big cats. He has run for president of the US, governor of Oklahoma, and is accused of attempting to hire someone to kill animal rights campaigner Carole Baskin.

Maldonado-Passage has promoted an unsubstantiated theory that Ms Baskin was involved in the disappearance of her husband Don Lewis in 1997.

He is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for two counts of murder-for-hire, as well as for killing tigers in his care.

Some fans of the show believe he is innocent and Donald Trump Jr has joked previously that he should be pardoned.

On Tuesday, he said on US radio that he doesn't "even  know exactly what he was charged with".

FILE - This file photo provided by the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Fla., shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic." Maldonado-Passage was convicted in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, who he has repeatedly accused of killing her husband Jack “Don” Lewis. Lewis' unsolved 1997 disappearance and Maldonado-Passage's accusations are the subject of new Netflix series “Tiger King.” (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)
Joseph 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage. AP

"I watched the show, but it was like, I don’t know exactly what he was guilty of or wasn’t," he said.

"It doesn’t seem like he was totally innocent of anything. But when they’re saying, ‘We’re putting this guy away for 30 years,' I’m saying that seems sort of aggressive."

Tiger King drew drew 34.3 million unique viewers in the first 10 days after its release on March 20.