In a truly unexpected development on election day, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has received a public endorsement from none other than Tiger King star Joe Exotic.
Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage — better known as Joe Exotic — is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence in the United States for multiple wildlife offences and two counts of attempting to hire hitmen to murder animal rights activist Carole Baskin. Despite his conviction, Exotic maintains his innocence and has been campaigning for a presidential pardon.
Exotic’s endorsement came during a surprise interview on The Jimmy & Nath Show with Emma on 2DayFM on Wednesday morning. The hosts jokingly asked whether he’d support Albanese and perhaps ask the election winner to help with his clemency efforts.
“Here’s what we’re going to do, right? We’re friends with Albo, who could potentially — he’s the current Prime Minister. Can you say, ‘vote one Anthony Albanese’ and we’ll play it for him?” they asked.
Exotic obliged, and followed up by posting a bizarre, seemingly AI-generated image of himself standing alongside Albanese, with the slogan “Albanese for Prime Minister Australia” printed between them.
“Keep Australia safe and awesome. All of my friends in Australia vote for @albomp,” Exotic wrote in the caption, tagging the show’s Instagram account.
Over the next few hours, he published two more posts reiterating his endorsement, while denying any connection to the Labor Party or that he was paid for the promotion.
“Just hoping he will return a favour and call Trump for me,” he explained. “Australia is an amazing place. Steve Irwin helped me save some animals.”
Albanese Responds With Laughter
Prime Minister Albanese appeared bemused when questioned about the endorsement during a press appearance at the National Press Club.
“He’s in jail… I wasn’t even aware of all of that,” he laughed. “I think the point of that question was to ask the question rather than to get a serious answer, I hope.”
However, Exotic didn’t take kindly to the response. He shared a clip of the interaction from ABC on Instagram, and pushed back on the portrayal.
“Yes, I endorse Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, just like I did for President Trump,” he wrote. “Hoping that he has the respect enough to look at the video confessions on the evidence link at joeexoticofficial dot com and call Trump to finally sign my Clemency since the entire world knows how corrupt our system is.”
