President Donald Trump was asked about a possible pardon for Joe Exotic from the Netflix show “Tiger King” during the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Wednesday, and responded by indicating that he would “take a look” at the situation.
“One of the biggest rating hits of the coronavirus, aside from these briefings, has been a show on Netflix called ‘Tiger King,’ and the man who’s the star of this is a former zoo owner who’s serving a 22-year prison sentence,” a reporter said to Trump. “He’s asking you for a pardon, saying he was unfairly convicted. Your son yesterday jokingly said that he was going to advocate for it. I wonder if you’d seen the show, and if you have any thoughts on pardoning Joe Exotic.”
“Which son?” Trump responded. “Must be Don.”
“It was,” the reporter responded.
“I had a feeling it was Don. Is that what he said?” Trump continued. “I don’t know. I know nothing about it. He has 22 years for what? What did he do?”
“He allegedly hired someone to murder an animal rights activist, but he said that he didn’t do that,” the reporter answered.
“You think he didn’t do it? Are you on his side?” Trump joking responded. “Are you recommending a pardon?”
“No, I’m not advocating –” the reporter said.
“As a reporter, you’re not able to do that, you’d be criticized by [these reporters],” Trump said.
After a brief moment of interacting with another reporter in the room, Trump responded the reporter who asked the question by saying, “I’ll take a look.”
WATCH:
#BREAKING Video: Trump is ASKED by a reporter about #TigerKing and how @DonaldJTrumpJr took issue with Joe Exotic's sentence and whether he'd consider a pardon.
Smirks and says "I'd take a look" before shaking his head. He also asked @Acosta if he thinks he should pardon him. pic.twitter.com/Y7F9jxIj2t
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 8, 2020