Joe Exotic 'volunteers' Mexican partner for deportation in exchange for Trump pardon

Tiger King’s Joe Exotic has once again begged US president Donald Trump for a pardon, and this time he’s using his Mexican fiancé as a bargaining chip.

The reality star, whose real name is Joe Maldonado-Passage, rose to fame in 2020 as the star of the hit Netflix true crime docuseries Tiger King. He is currently in prison serving a 21-year sentence for his part in a murder-for-hire plot against his nemesis, fellow big cat rescuer Carole Baskin.

Since his imprisonment, Joe Exotic has found love behind bars with partner Jorge Marquez, announcing their engagement in an X/Twitter post in October 2024.

In his most recent call for a presidential pardon, Joe Exotic has claimed his partner, Marquez, who he calls his “husband”, will “deport” himself back to Mexico and that he will also leave the US to join him there too.

He wrote: “You [Trump] 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.”

He added: “It would save the taxpayers both ways.”

Joe Exotic has called many times for a pardon from Trump and has tweeted to others in the administration, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., begging him to “Free Joe Exotic please the world is waiting”.

It comes as Trump has made a big push on deportation, while also pardoning hundreds of those convicted in participating in the deadly January 6 riots.

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