Trump says he doesn't know who Joe Exotic is, but he'll 'take a look' at pardoning him

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Trump is not familiar with Tiger King, but on Wednesday, he promised to "take a look" at pardoning its main character, Joe Exotic.

Exotic, a former private zoo owner, is serving a 22-year prison sentence after being found guilty last year of hiring a hit man to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin (the hit didn't happen, and Baskin is still alive). In a recent radio interview, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., joked he was going to tell his dad that Exotic deserved to be pardoned, and a New York Post reporter thought Wednesday's coronavirus briefing would be a great time to bring this up.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.