WASHINGTON — “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic has filed to appear on his first state ballot against President Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, The Post has learned.
The 60-year-old former private zoo owner, who is campaigning from federal prison, sent a $500 check on Monday to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office in order to appear on the Centennial State’s Super Tuesday ballot.
Exotic, whose real last name is Maldonado, told The Post that he hopes to appeal to rural and libertarian-minded Democrats in the state — with unusual campaign pledges including requiring all federal candidates to spend 30 days in prison before they take office.
“I just signed and notarized my papers for the state of Colorado,” Exotic said in an interview from his prison in Fort Worth, Texas. “So I’m confirmed on that ballot.”
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Exotic would be the first openly gay president and the first elected from prison — where he’s serving a 21-year sentence for allegedly scheming to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin and violating wildlife laws.
The big cat enthusiast says the US needs to crack down on public corruption with a 10-year minimum sentence for that offense and has strong words for leaders of both parties.
“Tiger King” star Joe Exotic has filed to run for president in Colorado in 2024 as a Democrat against President Biden.AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File
“If they’re gonna take an oath of office and they’re gonna put us trillions of dollars in debt and they’re going to launder money and take $5 million bribes and all that s–t, why are they off getting the easy train?” Exotic said, referring to allegations that President Biden accepted a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian businessman while he was vice president.
Exotic isn’t easy on Republican front-runner Donald Trump either — describing his recent criminal charges for hush-money payments and alleged mishandling of classified records as “karma” for not pardoning Exotic when he had the chance. He calls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the other leading Republican in the race, a “homophobe.”
The quixotic candidacy against Biden, however, is a point of amusement for Trump’s campaign.
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Exotic is campaigning from federal prison.Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File
“Democrat primary voters finally have a ‘Joe’ who is well spoken, projects strength and knows what it’s like to run a business,” senior adviser Jason Miller told The Post. “The problem is that’s Joe Exotic and not Joe Biden.”
The Colorado Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An official at the Colorado Secretary of State’s office said that Exotic’s check had not yet arrived in the mail — with delivery possibly slowed by Thursday’s parade celebrating the NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
Former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, a Republican, told The Post that state law doesn’t allow parties to block candidates once they’ve cleared the filing requirements for a primary bid.
Exotic criticized Biden for not fulfilling his campaign promises on criminal justice reform.Chris Kleponis – CNP / MEGA
An assistant to Exotic said the check was sent Monday by certified mail and provided The Post with a photo as proof.
“Colorado is going to be my starting ground — for Colorado and Wyoming and New Mexico and Nevada — for [Bureau of Land Management] land issues and rounding up the wild mustangs and the way that Biden is trying to pass a thing now where the tree holders and animal rights people can lease BLM land for 10 years to prevent people from grazing cattle,” said Exotic, whose former zoo was in Oklahoma.
Anti-Trump former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) remains his top pick for a running mate, but the candidate says he’s been spurned.
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“I’ve even sent certified letters to Liz asking her,” he said.
Exotic is currently serving a 21-year sentence for allegedly scheming to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin and violating wildlife laws.Schreibvogel/LC Coroner/Splash
“That’s one thing about politicians — Biden, on the campaign trail, when he was running for president, promised criminal justice reform and he ain’t done s–t,” Exotic said. “Liz Cheney got on world television during the January 6 hearings and said she would do anything she could to prevent Trump from being in the Oval Office. Well, I’m offering her that position to do anything possible.”
Exotic said he’s raised between $8,000 and $10,000 for his candidacy — enough to buy t-shirts and bumper stickers.
One of his “very smart” friends from prison — Casey Jobe, 40 — will serve as campaign manager once he’s released this month after helping strategize behind bars for nearly a year, the candidate said.
Exotic said he would be willing to pardon former President Trump if convicted of any of his recent charges.Photo by Peter Foley/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“He’s going to start state by state and see if we can’t get most of these states all confirmed, and then I’ll give it my best shot,” Exotic said.
The former zookeeper is appealing his conviction and says that Netflix’s “Tiger King 2” series proved he was innocent of hiring Alan Glover to murder Baskin. He’s awaiting a decision on a motion for a new trial. Prosecutors have said Exotic’s own rants against Baskin showed he was guilty.
Exotic said he’s willing to pardon either Trump or Biden if they end up in prison for mishandling classified documents or other alleged crimes — but not until they served 30 days inside to get a taste of the system.
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“I wouldn’t pardon [Trump] on my first day of office. I would make him spend 30 days in solitary confinement and then I would pardon him, so he can get a [taste] of what kind of system he was in charge of,” he said, adding the standard would “absolutely” apply to Biden as well.
“Karma comes full circle and I don’t think he’s seen it all yet,” Exotic said of Trump, who publicly mused about giving a pardon to the zookeeper while in office.
“I think they’re going to get him in Georgia, too. If he would have pardoned me like he kept teasing me for a year, if he would have pardoned me before the election, he wouldn’t need to be on the phone begging for 11,000 votes in Georgia.”
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Mikey Keene threw two touchdown passes, Bryson Donelson had a career-high 150 yards rushing and a TD on 13 carries Saturday night and Fresno State beat Colorado State 28-22.
Colorado State (7-4, 5-1 Mountain West) fell into a tie for second with No. 24 UNLV in the conference standings behind No. 12 Boise State — which will host the Mountain West championship game on Dec. 6.
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Donelson, a freshman, went into the game with 199 yards rushing this season, including his previous season high of 58 yards in the season opener. Keene was 20-of-28 passing for 181 yards with no interceptions. Mac Dalena finished with seven receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown for Fresno State (6-5, 4-3 Mountain West Conference).
Justin Marshall capped a 12-play, 77-yard opening drive that took nearly 6 1/2 minutes off the clock with a 10-yard TD for the Rams and finished with 94 yards rushing.
Donelson ran for a 21 yards and Keene hit Raylen Sharpe for a 38-yard gain to set up a 16-yard TD run by Donelson to make it 7-7. Joshua Wood followed with a 4-yard scoring run before Dalena caught a 28-yard touchdown pass with 3:18 left in the second quarter and Keene hit Jalen Moss for a 15-yard TD less than 3 minutes later that gave the Bulldogs a 28-7 lead at halftime.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi ran for a 9-yard TD late in the third quarter, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Person and then hit Vince Brown II for the 2-point conversion to trim Colorado State’s deficit to 28-22 with 17 seconds left.
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Deion Sanders and Colorado lost their third game of the season on Saturday. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
We could be headed for a four-way tie atop the Big 12 entering the final week of the regular season.
No. 16 Colorado lost 37-21 at Kansas on Saturday while No. 14 BYU lost 28-23 at No. 21 Arizona State in an absolutely chaotic finish.
The Buffaloes’ defense was gashed by Kansas RB Devin Neal. The senior who grew up not far from the University of Kansas campus had 287 total yards and four touchdowns as Colorado’s defense gave up big play after big play.
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BYU scored 20 points in the second half but its comeback attempt was foiled with 1:04 to go when Jake Retzlaff’s overthrown pass was intercepted by Javan Robinson. The defensive back returned the ball 64 yards before he was tackled inside the BYU 10-yard line to seal the game. Or so we thought.
Instead of trying to score the TD and get a two-score lead, Arizona State inexplicably tried to run the clock out. Sam Leavitt’s pass to try to end the game landed in the stands with one second to go. That gave BYU a Hail Mary attempt from its own 44 yard-line because Leavitt ran backward on second down to burn time.
The final play was delayed over 10 minutes because of a replay review and because the field needed to be cleared of the students who rushed it thinking the game was over.
And BYU almost pulled off the miracle win once the field was clear. Chase Roberts caught Retzlaff’s pass, but he was tackled short of the end zone.
Colorado and BYU entered Week 13 tied atop the Big 12 at 6-1 in the conference while Arizona State and Iowa State were at 5-2. If the Cyclones win against Utah on Saturday night, all four teams will be tied at 6-2.
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Kansas makes history
The Jayhawks improved to 5-6 overall (3-5 Big 12) with the win and set an FBS first. Thanks to wins over Iowa State and BYU over the previous two weeks, Kansas is the first school to ever beat three consecutive ranked teams while having a losing record.
Neal had 37 carries for 207 yards as Kansas rushed the ball 57 times for 331 yards. Colorado can be vulnerable to opponents’ run games and the Buffs can’t run the ball themselves. Colorado rushed 13 times for 42 yards.
Kansas’ run game allowed it to control the ball against the Buffaloes. Kansas had the ball for over 40 minutes as Colorado ran just 42 plays to Kansas’ 58.
Travis Hunter didn’t do anything to ruin his great chances at the Heisman in the loss. Hunter had eight catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns while also playing on defense.
Who has the advantage to make the Big 12 title game?
Arizona State has the best chance of anyone to make the Big 12 title game. The Sun Devils are in with a win over Arizona in Week 14.
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Colorado, meanwhile, needs help if there’s a four-way tie at 7-2 and Iowa State beats both Utah and Kansas State in its final two games.
If all four teams end up tied atop the conference, the first tiebreaker would be against their common opponents of UCF, Kansas, Kansas State and Utah. Colorado is cooked in that tiebreaker with losses to the Jayhawks and Wildcats. ASU is 4-0 against those teams and Iowa State and BYU would be 3-1.
After that tiebreaker, it would progress to the winning percentage of conference opponents. In that tiebreaker, Iowa State currently has the edge.
The penultimate week of the 2024 regular season is here.
The weekend features three games between ranked teams, including two monster matchups that pit a traditional power program against a surprising contender. All eyes will be on these David vs. Goliath matchups and more.
Here’s what we’re following on Saturday. (All times are Eastern and all odds are from BetMGM.)
Time: Noon | TV: Fox | Line: Ohio State -13.5 | Total: 51.5
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The College Football Playoff discussion has been unfairly dominated by Indiana’s weak strength of schedule, so here’s the Hoosiers’ chance to prove their 10-0 record is no fluke. Indiana is powered by an efficient passing offense led by fringe Heisman contender Kurtis Rourke and a defense that’s forcing nearly two turnovers per game. Indiana will have to contend with a Buckeyes team that’s giving up the fewest points per game of any team in college football.
The Buffaloes are two wins from clinching a spot in the Big 12 title game, but the first test will be a Kansas team that just ended BYU’s perfect season. Colorado has scored at least 34 points in each of those wins as Shedeur Sanders is playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Kansas (4-6) isn’t far from having a winning record as the team has lost five games by one possession.
It’s time to start paying attention to Arizona State, which has fought its way into the Big 12 title picture thanks to an offense led by RB Cam Skattebo and his 1,500-plus all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns. BYU can still make the conference title game with two more wins despite last week’s loss to Kansas. The loser of this game is on the outside looking in.
How long can Army (9-0) keep its magical season going against Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium? The Black Knights’ triple-option offense is not built to post a quick comeback, but they’ve given up just 10 points per game this season, albeit against a manageable schedule. Notre Dame isn’t far behind, giving up 11.4 ppg. This game is likely a playoff eliminator, so the stakes are sky high.
The Tigers are 1-5 in the SEC this season and need to beat both Texas A&M and Alabama to make a bowl game. A&M is tied with Texas atop the SEC and needs the win to make next week’s rivalry game a semifinal for the SEC title game. Can Auburn play the spoiler?
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