US President Donald Trump on Tuesday expanded his list of pardons for his second term to include two Thanksgiving turkeys, using the traditional White House ceremony to combine the holiday ritual with political overtones.
During a speech that took on the tone of a campaign rally, Trump pardoned Gobble and Waddle, preventing them from ending up at the Thanksgiving dinner tables.
He also joked about last year’s birds, Peach and Blossom, claiming that a Justice Department review determined that former President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen had invalidated his pardons. “They were on their way to being prosecuted,” he said.
Trump continued to joke about naming the turkeys after Democratic congressional leaders, adding that the outcome would have been different if he had done so. “I would never forgive those people,” he said.
The president also made comments about immigration, crime and political rivals, attacking Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
“I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s fat and lazy,” Trump said, then added, “By the way, I’d like to lose a few pounds, too.”
Returning to the purpose of the event, Trump formally announced the postponement of the holidays. “Gobble, you are hereby unconditionally pardoned.”
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Gobble, the White House’s main turkey, weighs 52 pounds, while Waddle, the stand-in, weighs 50 pounds. They were both born on July 14. Before the event, Waddle made an appearance in the White House briefing room following the turkeys’ stay in a luxury hotel suite.
After the ceremony, the birds will head to North Carolina State University, where they are expected to live out their lives as ambassadors for the National Turkey Federation.
Although Abraham Lincoln was said to have pardoned a turkey at his son’s request, the modern “pardon” tradition began in 1989, when President George HW Bush declared that the turkey sent to the White House had been “granted a presidential pardon.”
(NBC News)
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