Meghan McCain Says ‘Tiger King’ “Explains How Trump Became President”: Joe Exotic is a “Folk Hero”

Tiger King‘s Joe Exotic may not have won the 2016 presidential election (or the Oklahoma governorship), but Meghan McCain still believes in his political savvy. On Thursday morning, The View co-host professed her love for the Tiger King star and former zoo owner, who she insisted has become a “folk hero” despite his criminal background. McCain added that the Netflix docuseries helps explain Trump’s popularity, particularly when you consider Joe Exotic’s ability to connect to Americans in rural states. “It explains how Trump became president,” she said of Tiger King.

McCain has been tweeting about Tiger King for weeks (yes, she believes Carole Baskin killed her husband), but this morning, she finally got to bring her thoughts to The View‘s national audience. “I can’t stop watching this,” she told her co-hosts. “I watched it entirely and now I’m starting to watch it all over again.”

The conservative firebrand explained that while the docuseries’ subject Joe Exotic has “committed a lot of crimes” and is “ethically nebulous” — Exotic is currently serving a 22-year sentence for attempting to hire a hitman to murder Baskin — she can’t get enough of him. “I’m one of the people who’s fallen in love with him,” she said. “I considered signing a petition to have President Trump pardon him, but that just must be out of how obscenely bored I am in my house right now.”

But according to McCain, Tiger King is much more than just a cure to isolation-induced boredom. “Tiger King explains Trump very well,” she said, adding that it showcases the “demographic of people” that voted him into office. “It’s easy to forget that, you know, so much of this country is obviously in the middle and enjoy going to exotic tiger parks, no matter how disgusting it looks from the outside.”

Watch The View‘s Joe Exotic discussion above. Tiger King is now streaming on Netflix.

Where to stream The View

Where to stream Tiger King