Trump, asked about potential 'Tiger King' pardon, jokes he’ll ‘take a look'

President Trump on Wednesday addressed a potential pardon for Joseph Maldonado-Passage -- better known as "Joe Exotic" -- the subject of the Netflix docuseries "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."

Maldonado-Passage, who is currently serving 22 years in prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin -- which he alleges he didn't do -- has made a public plea to Trump, asking for a pardon.

During the White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing on Wednesday, a New York Post reporter asked President Trump if such a pardon could be in store for the "Tiger King" subject, noting that Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., recently joked about lobbying for a pardon on SiriusXM’s “Jim Norton and Sam Roberts” radio show.

"I don't know, I know nothing about it," Trump, 73, admitted, asking what the charges against Maldonado-Passage are.

"Do you think he didn't do it? Are you on his side?" Trump asked the journalist. "Are you recommending a pardon? As a reporter, you're not allowed to do that, you'd be criticized by these [other journalists]."

The journalist said he wasn't advocating a position before the president singled out another individual in the room, asking whether they'd recommend a pardon, who said: "I'm not weighing in."

"I'll take a look," Trump jokingly said.

"Tiger King" chronicles the intense rivalry between Maldonado-Passage and Baskin, both big cat enthusiasts, including the arrest and conviction of Maldonado-Passage.