- Joe Exotic was sentenced to 21 years in prison on a murder-for-hire charge.
- In a Fox News interview, the "Tiger King" star blamed the Trump Administration for his conviction.
Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix's "Tiger King," is adjusting his plans to run for president in 2024 and he has a message for Donald Trump: "Karma's a bitch, ain't it?"
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, filed earlier this year to run for president all while serving a 21-year sentence for a murder-for-hire plot in an Atlanta federal prison.
The "Tiger King" star previously tried and failed to get a presidential pardon from Trump, and he appears to have held a grudge for being omitted from the pardon list ever since.
During a phone interview from Atlanta Penitentiary with Fox News' Lawrence Jones, Exotic blamed the Trump Administration for putting him behind bars.
"His administration is the one who screwed me over and put me in here for an agenda to stop you from owning a tiger and petting a baby tiger," he said. "All I got to say to him is, 'Karma's a bitch, ain't it?'"
Exotic also suggested there was no fault with Trump's indictment concerning a hush-money payment made to a porn star when asked if he believed the charges were "fair."
"If the man broke the law, he needs to pay the price," Exotic said. "No different than President Biden or Hunter Biden or Obama or anybody else."
Shortly after Trump was indicted, Exotic welcomed the former president to the "party."
In his closing statement during the interview, Exotic encouraged people to visit his campaign website to learn more about his platform, but he was cut off as viewers were inadvertently reminded where he was calling from.
"This call is from a federal prison," an automated voice recording can be heard saying.
—Acyn (@Acyn) April 16, 2023
Exotic initially filed to run for president as a Libertarian but announced on April 11 that he would be changing his party affiliation to Democrat. The Federal Election Commission's database does not yet show that Exotic has re-filed to switch his party.
—Joe Exotic (@joe_exotic) April 11, 2023
Exotic told Fox News he was turned off by infighting in the Libertarian party and felt the party's views were "too far out there." He then listed a mix of hot-button conservative and liberal views.
"I believe in pro-choice. I believe in the 2nd Amendment. I still don't believe that anybody under 21 should have an assault rifle. I believe in LGBTQ. Transgender things should not be happening to kids under 18," he said: "There's just views on every aisle that I agree with."