A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Dial would use tigers to help Biden’s campaign. The article has been corrected, and updated to provide additional information.
Prior to being jailed for attempted murder-for-hire and other charges, Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic from the Netflix true crime drama “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” ran in both the 2016 presidential election as an independent, and later in the 2018 Oklahoma governor’s race as a Libertarian.
Although the campaigns didn’t propel Joe Exotic to higher office, Joshua Dial, the Netflix sensation’s former campaign manager, has indicated that he would be willing to re-enter the political arena, albeit without Joe Exotic by his side.
In an interview with TMZ, Dial indicated that he would be willing to help out an array of candidates. Although Dial doesn’t seem to indicate exactly what role he could fill at a campaign, he describes himself as a political operative.
In the interview, Dial is asked about his previous experience with tiger events, of which the former campaign manager says he’s held several.
“We’d put the metal cage in a van, we’d put a baby tiger in a huge huge kennel, and we’d go to private parties,” Dial told TMZ in an interview. “Bring a tiger out, $5,000-$10,000 dollars, maybe more.”
Despite Dial’s unorthodox resume and his Libertarian leanings, the interviewer also asked him about the prospect of helping political candidates seeking office at different levels of government, including Biden.
“No one’s reached out to me at all, actually,” said Dial. “If Joe Biden wanted to reach out to me, I’d be honored. I voted for Obama three times – in the primary and in both general elections.”
While Dial notes that he is still a “Libertarian at heart,” he believes that “sometimes Democratic values and goals align equally with Libertarian.”
According to New York Magazine, Dial managed Joe Exotic’s campaign for Oklahoma governor in 2018, and likened the candidate to “Donald Trump on meth.” (It’s entirely possible Dial meant this literally, as the magazine reports that “multiple employees say Joe himself was frequently taking drugs, especially meth.”)
Joe Exotic was reportedly first encouraged to run after seeing then-candidate Trump’s rise in popularity amongst Republicans, and NY Magazine notes that the “Tiger King” wasn’t actually a Libertarian, and didn’t “seem to know what the word meant.”
In a 2015 campaign ad for president, Joe Exotic makes his unorthodox pitch involving his mullet, his sexuality, his drug habits, and his tiger zoo. The campaign video doesn’t mention his stances on issues.
“I am gay, I’ve had two boyfriends most of my life, I currently got legally married,” said Joe Exotic in the video. “I’ve tried drugs through the younger years of my life, I am broke as s***, I have a judgment against me from some b**** down there in Florida, but I can tell you I’ve paid a fine.”
“That is nothing but a civil fine, ladies and gentleman, that does not mean that I’ve been accused or convicted of any kind of animal cruelty thing,” he said.
During a recent coronavirus press briefing, a White House reporter asked President Trump whether he would consider a pardon for Joe Exotic, in light of Don Jr. jokingly saying he would advocate in favor of it. Trump responded that he would “take a look.”