‘Tiger King’ star on 2024 presidential bid: ‘This ain’t a joke’

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as “Joe Exotic” of the “Tiger King” from the Netflix docu-series of the same name, told Fox News over the weekend that his 2024 presidential bid isn’t a joke. 

“First of all, you know, it’s my constitutional right to do this. It doesn’t matter what people think. This ain’t a joke,” Maldonado-Passage said in a phone interview with Fox News’s Lawrence Jones on “Cross Country” aired Saturday.

The “Tiger King” star is serving a 21-year federal sentence after being convicted on multiple charges, including Endangered Species Act violations and a murder-for-hire scheme targeting animal rights activist Carole Baskin,.

The former reality star is running under the Libertarian Party banner, via which he previously ran under for Oklahoma governor back in 2018. 

Maldonado-Passage told Fox News he is running for president to spur change in the political system and the justice system, and to ask “real questions” on behalf of tax-paying Americans.

“We have President Putin [who] just has warrants for his arrest for war crimes. We have President Trump under the possibility of an indictment and other criminal charges. We have Hunter Biden and President Biden under investigation for money laundering and making bad deals,” Maldonado-Passage said.

“What the hell’s the difference in somebody in prison that sees the system for what it really is and exposing this and trying to fix it?”