The President of the United States of America has weighed in on the Tiger King debacle giving his two cents as to whether Joe Exotic should be pardoned.
Donald Trump was at a White House press conference on Wednesday to discuss matters regarding Covid-19, however, it seems that one journalist was more interested in Trump's take on "one of the biggest rating hits of the coronavirus" - taking it upon himself to ask him about pardoning the Tiger King.
A clip from the press conference shows Steven Nelson, a Washington reporter for the New York Post, ask the question and it's gone seriously viral since being posted online. In the video, Steven can be heard asking:
"One of the biggest rating hits of the coronavirus, aside from these briefings, has been a show on Netflix called Tiger King. The man who's the star of this is a former zoo owner who is serving a 22 year prison sentence... he's asking you for a pardon saying he's been unfairly convicted.
Your son yesterday jokingly said that he was going to advocate for it and I was wondering if you've seen the show and if you have any thoughts on pardoning Joe Exotic?"
Trump responded by asking which son had made the comments:
"Which son? Must be Don... I had a feeling it was Don. Is that what he said?"
It seems that Trump is unfamiliar with the plight of Joseph Maldonado Passage, otherwise known as Joe Exotic, though adding:
"I don't know. I know nothing about it. He has 22 years for what? What did he do?"
The reporter went on to clarify what exactly Joe is in prison for, prompting Trump to ask whether they would advocate a pardon for the ex-zoo owner before saying that he'll "take a look".
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1248017367155658753
Steven Nelson has since responded to the backlash over his Tiger King question, tweeting:
"I asked President Trump about a pardon request from the star of Netflix's top-rated show after his son weighed in.
But I also asked about WHO coronavirus funding and this emerging bipartisan detail that may land in recovery infrastructure bill."
We can only imagine what Joe would make of all this.
