Donald Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkeys, hints at repealing pardons of Obama’s birds

On November 21, joined at the White House by his son Barron and wife Melania, President Donald Trump granted presidential pardons to two Thanksgiving turkeys, Drumstick and Wishbone. Drumstick was the turkey on hand and mainly featured for the ceremony, where the president – on behalf of the entire Trump family – wished all Americans a “very happy and blessed Thanksgiving,” according to his remarks as shared by whitehouse .gov.

The Trumps and Drumstick were joined by Carl Wittenburg, Chairman of the National Turkey Federation, Wittenburg’s wife, Sharlene, and their sons, Nate and Wyatt. Drumstick was raised on Carl and Sharlene’s turkey farm in Douglas County, Minnesota. At the ceremony, President Trump shared that,

“It was 70 years ago that the National Turkey Federation first presented the National Thanksgiving Turkey to President Harry Truman — who, I might add, did not grant the pardon. He refused. He was a tough cookie. Today, I’m going to be a much nicer President.

Upon being pardoned, Drumstick and his friend, Wishbone, will live out their days at “Gobbler’s Rest” — beautiful place. It’s custom-built; it’s an enclosure on the campus of Virginia Tech. Tremendous school. There, they’ll join Tater and Tot, the two turkeys pardoned last year by President Obama.”

Drumstick actually beat out Wishbone as to which of the two holiday birds would be pardoned. Fortunately, the president ended up pardoning both. The president also hinted at the possibility that former President Barack Obama’s Thanksgiving turkey pardons would be repealed.

“As many of you know, I have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor. However, I have been informed by the White House Counsel’s Office that Tater and Tot’s pardons cannot, under any circumstances, be revoked. So we’re not going to revoke them. So, Tater and Tot, you can rest easy.”

According to MSN, U.S. presidents dating back to the time of Abraham Lincoln have been granting presidential pardons to Thanksgiving turkeys. President George H.W. Bush turned those presidential pardons into traditional annual events.