Joseph Maldonado-Passage, known to everyone who was binge-watching Netflix throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as "Joe Exotic" or the "Tiger King", is launching a presidential bid from behind bars.

Maldonado-Passage, once the keeper of a roadside zoo in Oklahoma called the Greater Wynnewood Animal Park, has been in federal prison since he allegedly paid a man $3,000 to travel across the country to kill animal/big cat activist Carol Baskin.

The Tiger King “allegedly agreed to pay thousands more after the deed,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.

His charges didn't end there.

A grand jury also indicted Maldonado-Passage on an additional 19 counts of wildlife charges, including the violation of the Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act. Prosecutors say he shot and killed five tigers in October 2017 to make room in cages for other big cats and sold tiger cubs to raise money.

He was also accused of falsifying records relating to the tigers, lions and a baby lemur that were purported to be donated or transported for exhibition but were actually sold.

Joe Exotic's exploits were made famous in a Netflix docu-series called "Tiger King," which exploded in popularity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On his campaign website, www.joeexotic2024.com, Maldonado-Passage says "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."

"So put aside that I am gay, that I am in prison for now, that I used drugs in the past, that I had more then one boyfriend at once and that Carole hates my guts," he continues later in his statement. "This all has not a thing to do with me being able to be your voice. The best thing you have going for supporting me is that I am used to fighting my whole life just to get by. I am broke, they have taken everything I ever worked for away, and it's time we take this country back."

Maldonado-Passage sought a presidential pardon from former president Donald Trump prior to Trump's leaving office after the 2020 election, but no pardon ever came. He later attempted another appeal of his conviction but lost that legal battle in 2022.

Joe Exotic is running as a Libertarian candidate. So far, his declared opponents are former president Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on the Republican side of the aisle, and Marianne Williamson on the Democratic side.

The current president, Democrat Joe Biden, is presumably running for re-election but has not formally declare that intention.

Read the Tiger King's full announcement below.


 

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.

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.

As seen by the evidence at www.joeexoticusa.com/evidence, you can see that they have admitted to perjury and they even had a plot to kill me before they set me up. I hope that you would take the time to educate yourself before judging me any further than most of you already have, because during this campaign and my life, I have not, and will not, judge you. That is why I am doing this, to finally give you a voice and your freedom back without fear of living in a country that thinks they own you and can tell you how to live your life.

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 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.

I am here because I have a world platform to make these politicians listen to your and my concerns and give us some answers for once because all they do is 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.

There is a video HERE that pretty much speaks for itself about my life and who I am. There is nothing I am ashamed of that I have done in my life and I am damn sure I will do things in the future that some of you may not like. But you need to remember one very thing: I don't give a damn what color you are, where you came from, who you sleep with, if you have done drugs in your past, or if you have made a mistake and ended up in jail or put there because someone lied about you, It is time we all put the past in the past and move this campaign forward and scare the hell out of these people because you and I want some answers, and on this website you will see some of the issues I want addressed, some of the changes I would like to see, and I want you to submit some of the issues you have so I can make them answer your questions. 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? This country would not even be as advanced as it is now if it was not for private hard working people and people with genius minds like Elon Musk and the ones that invented the internet, cell phones, and so on. This wasn't done by your senators or congressmen and women. All they have done is pass laws to take your rights and money away and treat you like you're something beneath them, while they live high on the hog ripping everyone off and never paying the price for it.

So put aside that I am gay, that I am in prison for now, that I used drugs in the past, that I had more then one boyfriend at once and that Carole hates my guts. This all has not a thing to do with me being able to be your voice. The best thing you have going for supporting me is that I am used to fighting my whole life just to get by. I am broke, they have taken everything I ever worked for away, and it's time we take this country back.

And yes, I have people in mind that can help run this country a hell of a lot better then they are now, so lets cross that bridge when we get to it.

Joe Exotic 2024

Photos: How Tiger King's Cats Now Live in Colorado

The wildly-popular Netflix show 'Tiger King' bred a lot of questions: namely, where are Joe Exotic's tigers now? Apparently, many of them reside right here in Colorado.

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