Joe Exotic Ordered A Giant Limo Expecting A Presidential Pardon That Never Came

In a blast from quarantine past, Joe Exotic was in the news yesterday for eagerly awaiting a Presidential pardon from Donald Trump that never came.

Trump spent his last day in office issuing over 100 pardons to a wide variety of allies and friends, with the list ranging from the likes of Rod Blagojevich to Lil Wayne, but that massive list did not include the Tiger King. Exotic, real name Joe Maldonado-Passage, was sentenced in January of 2020 to 22 years in prison for violating federal wildlife laws and participating in a muder-for-hire plot on his rival, Carole Baskin. He filed a pardon application last September, arguing he was "railroaded and betrayed" by others.

While it's not particularly noteworthy that Trump declined to pardon Exotic, it is amusing how sure Joe was that he'd get out of prison yesterday. Yesterday outside of his Texas prison sat a massive limousine that would have driven the celebratory Exotic on his way out of jail to get McRibs.

Joe Exotic's legal team tell me they are "100% confident" Trump will pardon the 'Tiger King' from his 22-year criminal sentence. Here's the 38ft "Monster Ram Truck Limo" they've reserved to pick him up. They plan to grab some McRibs immediately after. pic.twitter.com/mK69eGLiBV

— Greg Walters (@thegregwalters) January 19, 2021

After the day passed with no pardon for Exotic, his lawyers said, "140 million Joe Exotic fans had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. We are as disappointed that the President did not sign Joe’s pardon as we were confident yesterday that he would."

While it's impossible to prove if 140 million Joe Exotic fans struggled to face today knowing the man convicted of trying to kill someone is still in prison, it's easier to prove that Twitter was riveted—or at least amused—by the story.

The idea that joe exotic thinks he’s getting a pardon is hilarious. Tiger King just reminds me of Quarantine week 2, get that shit AWAY from me, we’re on week FORTY FOUR LMAO

— FINNEAS (@finneas) January 19, 2021

"Trump pardons Lil Wayne, snubs Joe Exotic" is exactly the kind of headline this presidency was always going to end with huh

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) January 20, 2021

Joe Exotic rn pic.twitter.com/PBDcC63rQy

— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) January 20, 2021

Joe Exotic seeing that Trump pardoned Lil Wayne and Kodak Black pic.twitter.com/eVrJAZxjoc

— DC (@DylansRawTake) January 20, 2021

Better luck next time, Joe. Maybe Biden was a Tiger King fan.