Tiger King star Joe Exotic has voiced his disapproval of Vice President Kamala Harris as potential president and blamed her for his ongoing prison stint.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced that he would not be seeking reelection in the 2024 presidential race, and threw his support behind Harris. Biden's decision followed weeks of pressure from within his own party and from key Democratic donors to step down amid concerns over his age and mental acuity.
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said in a statement posted on social media.
In a follow-up post, Biden endorsed Harris to succeed him as the nominee, writing: "My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats—it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this."
With the Democratic Party now being tasked to quickly organize and select a new nominee before August 7, TV personality Exotic took to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday to express his opposition to Harris as candidate.
Exotic, who announced in March 2023 that he was running for president, shared a photo of Harris with the words "vote no" emblazoned across the image.
He added the caption: "Harris co-signed the Big Cat Safety Act for Carole Baskin so she could put me in prison and take everything I worked for. She has spent her life putting people in prison. She is no good for freedom and she lied about fixing it in 2020 during their campaign so don't trust her. #freejoeexotic."
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Harris via email for comment.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, is serving a 21-year prison sentence following his conviction in 2019 on multiple charges, including two counts of hiring hit men to murder the wildlife activist Carole Baskin. He was also convicted of killing tigers and selling them across state lines.
In an email exchange from FMC Fort Worth prison in Texas back in May, Exotic told Newsweek that he was a "political prisoner." He expressed doubt that Biden would ever pardon him, saying it was because of Harris' involvement in the Big Cat Public Safety Act. In April 2020, during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris suggested that those socially distancing "catch up on the Tiger King" before adding that she was a "cosponsor of the Big Cat Public Safety Act."
Signed into law in December 2022, the Big Cat Public Safety Act makes it illegal to privately possess or breed big cats to keep as exotic pets or for commercial purposes. The law prohibits public contact with these animals, including cubs.
The legislation also places new restrictions on the breeding, possession and use of certain big cat species, including for commerce, within the United States.
Exotic, who originally announced that he would run for president as a Libertarian but switched to the Democratic Party weeks later, had previously issued futile public pleas for former President Donald Trump to pardon him before his first term in office ended. He has since been critical of the onetime business mogul.
Hours after Biden threw his support behind her as his successor, Harris shared a statement of her own on Sunday.
After commending Biden for his "extraordinary leadership" and "decades of service to our country," Harris said: "With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.
"I am honored to have the President's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead.
"I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win."
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