Hey, it’s an offer.
There’s not much good that came out of COVID, but one thing I’m thankful for is that we were all able to experience Tiger King together. That week where everybody was locked down watching the Netflix documentary and collectively discussing how batshit crazy the whole thing was may have been the last time we were truly united as a country.
The star of the show was, of course, Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage. The eccentric (to put it mildly) former owner and operator of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park is currently behind bars after being convicted in 2020 on two federal charges related to hiring a hitman to kill rival zoo owner Carole Baskin, as well as violations related to the Endangered Species Act and falsifying wildlife records.
Exotic was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and unfortunately he never got to experience the fame that he’s gained from the popularity of Tiger King, but since the documentary’s release he’s been doing his best to find a way to get himself sprung from the clink.
He lobbied for a pardon from President Donald Trump back in 2021, during the final days of Trump’s first term, but unfortunately the president had other things on his plate and the pardon for Joe Exotic never came.
But now that Trump is back in office, Joe Exotic is once again hoping that Trump will free him – and he’s even willing to make a deal with the president to get that pardon.
Apparently Exotic (who has had multiple husbands and romantic interests at this point, I can’t keep track of them) has a new lover behind bars, an illegal immigrant named Jorge Marquez Flores. Exotic first posted about his new fiancé from his Twitter account back in October of 2024, announcing that the two were engaged after meeting in prison.
Meet Jorge Marquez he is 33. He is so amazing and is from Mexico.
Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum or we be leaving America when we both get out.
Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago. pic.twitter.com/MYRVPcy97Y
— Joe Exotic (@joe_exotic) October 29, 2024
The two filed an application to get married while behind bars, but it seems that Exotic has another idea: If Trump pardons him, they’ll self-deport to Mexico and live happily ever after.
The Tiger King made the offer this week on social media, referring to Marquez Flores as his “husband.”
“You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we’ll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me. No matter what happens, he’s my husband, and we’ll never abandon each other. This bond is that strong.”
You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we'll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me. No matter what happens, he's my husband, and we'll never abandon each other.
This bond is that strong. pic.twitter.com/FYal90Tehz— Joe Exotic (@joe_exotic) March 18, 2025
Trump has yet to comment on the offer, which is really a failure of our media. I know the White House has opened up the press room to so-called “new media,” and if I had credentials for a press briefing that would definitely be my first question.
Of course there’s no way to guarantee that Exotic self-deports if he gets a pardon, so I’m guessing his offer isn’t all that attractive to the president. But hey, at least he’s getting creative, and maybe one day he’ll get Trump’s attention and make a deal to get himself out of prison.
