President Trump “pardoned” two turkeys at a humorous White House ceremony Tuesday, but told reporters shortly after that he hadn’t considered also giving humans clemency for Thanksgiving.
Trump spared the birds with jokes before his afternoon departure for Florida, where he will spend the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Speaking to reporters as he prepared to board a helicopter, Trump side-stepped a question from the Washington Examiner about whether he would issue holiday pardons.
“I love the pardons for the turkey,” Trump said.
Asked if he would pardon any people, Trump said: “I haven’t thought of it — it’s not a bad thing.”
Behind bars, Trump has generated enormous hope for presidential clemency. Last week, he endorsed legislation that would reduce some drug-crime penalties, after saying in October that “a lot of people” are jailed for “no reason” and that he was “actively looking” for inmates to release.
There are signs that the White House and the Justice Department Office of the Pardon Attorney are processing commutation requests from prisoners and pardon requests from already released inmates, making clemency advocates hopeful for near-term reprieves.
Trump already has been more generous than recent predecessors early in his first term, issuing nine pardons and prison commutations. He hasn’t given any clemency grants in four months, however, in an apparent pause for the midterm elections earlier this month.
Several prisoners said ahead of the turkey pardons that they were hopeful Trump would intervene to release them, after expressing an interest in finding worthy cases.
Instead, the pre-Thanksgiving event followed a traditional formula, with the president cracking jokes and comically bestowing his pardon on birds selected by the meat industry.
“I can’t guarantee that your pardons won’t be enjoined by the 9th Circuit,” Trump joked as he addressed “extremely lucky birds” named Peas and Carrots.
In pardoning both turkeys, Trump disregarded the results of a Twitter poll, which was circulated by the White House but not retweeted by Trump’s news-driving personal account.
“The winner of this vote was decided by a fair and open election,” Trump said, making light of close recent elections in Florida and Georgia. “Unfortunately, Carrots refused to concede and demanded a recount. … Carrots, I’m sorry to tell you the results did not change.”
“Even though Peas and Carrots have received a presidential pardon, I have warned them that House Democrats are likely to issue them both subpoenas,” he added.
[Opinion: The White House turkey pardon should be thrown on the trash heap of history]
This year’s Rose Garden “pardon” ceremony was more closely controlled than Trump first-year turkey pardon, where reporters slipped into lawn chairs without an RSVP. This year, reporters needed a special ticket to attend, as they did Monday for a Christmas tree arrival.
