‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Is Running for President

Tiger King star Joe Exotic has announced that he is running for president. In a statement shared on a new website, the currently incarcerated Exotic — whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — explains, “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 then goes on to detail his argument against “the Department of Justice,” which he asserts wrongly convicted him of animal abuse and attempted murder. “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.” Exotic then shares a link to a video that offered more information “about my life and who I am.”

He continues, “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. 

Exotic later adds, “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.” He concludes his statement: “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.”

Notably, the announcement also comes after Exotic is said to be refusing cancer treatment while in prison. “I want to stay here and just let it take its course,” he said in a previous statement. Exotic also updated his will to leave everything to his fiancé, Seth Posey, whom he met online.