Donald Trump has said he will “look into” pardoning Tiger King star Joe Exotic.
The US President told reporters at a White House briefing yesterday that he will delve further into the case of the infamous big cat owner, who is currently serving a 22 year sentence for murder for hire and animal abuse charges.
Trump’s pledge comes as it was revealed the documentary is officially one of the most successful original series’ ever produced by the streaming service.
Variety reports that a staggering 34.3 million people have tuned into the series within 10 days of it dropping on March 20.
The programme has become a global hit, perhaps due to the amount of time people are spending at home at the moment amid the coronavirus outbreak, with social media packed full of memes, quotes and celebrity tributes to the most-talked about production of the moment.
(Image: Netflix US/AFP via Getty Images)
The docuseries follows three eccentric zoo owners, including Exotic and his arch nemesis Carole Baskin.
Baskin is the individual who he was allegedly plotting to kill, after she became a thorn in his side by pushing US lawmakers to vote in favour of her Big Cat Safety Act, which would ban the private ownership of tigers and lions, and put an end to cub-petting.
In April Exotic, real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, was convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire, eight violations of the Lacey Act and on nine violations of the Endangered Species Act.
The US President was brought into the Tiger King debate after son Donald Trump Jr. called the sentencing “aggressive”.
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Speaking on a SirirusXM radio show earlier this week, he said he’d watched the show in two sittings and still doesn’t “know exactly what he was charged with”.
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Netflix)
His comments prompted journalists at Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing to probe Trump Senior on his thoughts.
The President replied: “Are you on his side? Are you recommending a pardon? I’ll take a look.”
(Image: Netflix)
Meanwhile Variety reports that the programme is one of the biggest ever produced by Netflix, using data from Nielson, which tracks only viewers in the US.
The report’s findings reveal Tiger King beat the launch of Stranger Things series two, and has nearly overtaken the record 36.3 million who tuned into the third run of Stranger Things 10 days after it launched in 2019.
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