Tiger King star Joe Exotic has advised Donald Trump to ditch the "name-calling" and "childish rhetoric" if he wishes to beat Vice President Kamala Harris in November's election.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence following his conviction in 2019 on multiple charges, including two counts of hiring hit men to murder wildlife activist and Tiger King co-star Carole Baskin. He was also convicted of violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Despite being imprisoned, Exotic announced in March 2023 that he was running for president. He initially shared that he would run as a Libertarian but switched to the Democratic Party weeks later. He has since suspended his campaign and thrown his support behind Trump, of whom he has been critical in the past.
Speaking with Newsweek from FMC Fort Worth prison in Texas, Exotic is now offering advice to Trump, whose running mate is JD Vance. Democratic nominee Harris, who stepped in after President Joe Biden revealed that he would not be seeking reelection, announced Tim Walz as her running mate in August.
Exotic, who is hoping to land a role in Trump's administration should he defeat Harris in November, has advised that the onetime real estate mogul needs to try and "keep his mouth shut" and "get on track" in order to secure a victory over Harris.
"Concentrate on explaining to the American people [the value of] drilling our own oil, our gas, and our own coal," he told Newsweek in a telephone conversation. "Get back to how we're going to sustain America without having to pay every other country for the same thing that we can provide here."
Exotic added that forgoing fracking in favor of placing offshore wind turbines in the ocean "makes no sense at all, because we're destroying the most valuable ecosystem we have on our planet."
The TV personality said that Trump should push back on funding Ukraine and Israel amid their respective conflicts, particularly when "we can't build a $100,000 house for someone that lost two limbs fighting for the freedom of this country."
"[Trump] has to explain to the people what we can do to better the lives of the American people," Exotic went on. "We can't afford gas, we can't afford rent, we can't afford food... We have to give back to where the American people can take care of the American people. If he would just explain some of this to the American public, he would win on a landslide."
No Name-Calling
Exotic has advised that Trump should dial back the "name-calling" in favor of getting back to basics when it comes to politics. His desire to see clearer messaging is why he made the decision to embark on his short-lived presidential campaign.
"I ran against all of them because none of them ever answer the questions for the American people," Exotic said. "All they do is throw out some percentages and some ideas, but they never explain exactly what they're going to do or how they're going to try and better our lives. That's why I ran to start with."
"Trump, I feel that he's the person," he continued. "He's strong enough to protect America from foreign allies. I believe that he's a good enough businessman to keep the economy to where people can afford that.
"But the problem that I have with Donald Trump is he can't keep his mouth shut. If he would just get on policy and talk about, you know, drilling for oil, quit putting windmills in the ocean, get this climate thing under control—because we're never going to fix the climate by ourselves in America.
"We're punishing the American citizens [with] electric vehicles and electric lawnmowers and all this s***, while every other country in the world is poisoning our climate and ruining our climate. That's the thing that I don't like about President Biden; he's so hip on climate control, but we're buying oil and everything from every country that produces the dirtiest energy there is.
"Trump has just got to get off of this name-calling and childish rhetoric, because he was a good president, even though they didn't leave him alone for four years and let him do his damn job. I believe that he still can get the economy back on track, and he's strong enough."
Exotic also brought up Trump's dozens of indictments stemming from his various criminal cases. "What normal American citizen, whether they're Black, brown or white, could possibly defend themselves against this justice system?" Exotic asked.
Trump has faced a host of legal issues since his term came to an end. In May, he was convicted on 34 felony counts of attempting to illegally manipulate the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, which he won, by falsifying business records to conceal potentially damaging "hush money" payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18.
A Critic of Harris
Like Trump, Exotic has denied any wrongdoing. In Exotic's case, it has meant that he has become particularly critical of Harris, who he blames for his incarceration. In an email exchange with Newsweek back in May, Exotic described himself 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.
Speaking with Newsweek over the telephone in late August, Exotic opined that Harris' current momentum will wane as the election edges closer.
"I think over the next 60 days, the momentum on Harris will die down and people will start seeing and hearing the truth," he said. "I'm not going to stop talking... I still believe Trump can pull this off if he gets on track, you know, and starts talking about policies and how he's going to fix the country, instead of all of his name-calling."
Harris, Exotic added, "will never give my support."
Exotic's team previously issued public pleas for the TV personality to receive a pardon from Trump before the end of his first term in the White House. Should Trump win in November, Exotic is hoping to get more than just a pardon.
"I want to be the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service," he said. "I can save this country several million dollars because it's over regulated. We're regulating animals that don't even belong in America. And the Endangered Species Act is something that I specialize in. I can almost recite it, word for word."
People on Trump's team, he added, "know that I would like to be in his cabinet as the director of the Federal Fish and Wildlife [Service]. I used to be a police chief, so I have law enforcement experience, and I could do the job, and I think I could do the job a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot better for the American people."
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