President Donald Trump on Tuesday added two Thanksgiving turkeys to his long list of second-term pardons, offering the birds a dose of his much-discussed presidential immunity.
After a White House speech that felt more like a campaign rally than a symbolic ceremony, Trump spared Gobble and Waddle from appearing on Thanksgiving dinner plates. He also joked that he was pardoning last year’s turkeys, Peach and Blossom, after a thorough Justice Department investigation found that President Joe Biden’s autopen use invalidated their pardons. “They were on their way to being processed,” he said.
He also quipped that he was considering naming the turkeys Chuck and Nancy — in a reference to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — but that he wouldn’t be pardoning them if that were the case. “I would never pardon those people,” he said.
He then got into immigration, crime and other issues, while also taking time to mock Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat. “I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob,” Trump said, before adding that “I’d like to lose a few pounds too, by the way.”
He then turned to what the event was about, saying, “Gobble, you’re hereby unconditionally pardoned.”
Gobble, the official White House turkey, is a 52-pound bird, while Waddle, the designated alternate, is a slender 50. Both were hatched on July 14.
Waddle visited the White House briefing room before the pardoning event, after the two birds had a luxurious hotel room stay.
The gravy for the turkeys? After the ceremony, they’re slated to go to North Carolina State University, where, according to the National Turkey Federation, they’ll spend the rest of their days as ambassadors for the industry.
While Abraham Lincoln was reportedly the first to spare a turkey at the White House — doing so at his son’s request — the “pardon” tradition only dates back to 1989. That’s when President George H.W. Bush declared the bird he’d been sent had “been granted a presidential pardon.”