President Trump pardoned a turkey named Drumstick on Tuesday, offering jokes in the White House Rose Garden while ignoring a question about whether he would also pardon people in celebration of Thanksgiving.
Trump told the well-attended annual meat-industry event that he’s welcomed “a few very strange birds” to the White House in the past 10 months but that “we have yet to receive any visitor like our magnificent guest of honor today, Drumstick.”
The president symbolically “pardoned” Drumstick after the bird won a poll on Twitter, the president’s social media platform of choice, over another turkey called Wishbone. The White House created humorous biographies to guide voting.
Trump joked during his remarks that he was tempted to withdraw a pardon for two birds given a reprieve last year by President Obama.
“However, I have been informed by the White House Counsel’s Office that Tater and Tot’s pardons cannot under any circumstances be revoked,” he said. “So we’re not going to revoke them. So Tater and Tot, you can rest easy.”
White House counsel Don McGahn attended the event, as did first children Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump and Barron Trump. Ivanka’s husband, presidential adviser Jared Kushner, also attended.
McGahn’s office reportedly drafted paperwork for the only actual pardon given by Trump so far: the August pardon of former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was awaiting sentencing for misdemeanor contempt of court.
According to a pool report, Trump seemed to say “Are you ready, Drumstick? Drumstick you are hereby pardoned.”
The president then ignored a twice-shouted question asking: “Are you going to pardon any people?”
Although Wishbone lost the vote, he also will be spared from the dinner table and join Drumstick at Virginia Tech’s “Gobblers Rest,” the current abode of last year’s Obama-pardoned turkeys.
According to his White House biography, Drumstick enjoys classic rock, the band Journey and has a “tall and proud” strut style. He is 31 inches tall and weighs 47 pounds, with a wingspan of 5 feet.
Runner-up Wishbone is slightly smaller, moves with a “strong shuffle” and reportedly enjoys country music and the musicians Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Both were born on June 28 in Minnesota.
The annual turkey pardons, light-hearted events, are moments of amusement for reporters.
Before the winner was declared, White House journalists stampeded toward the front of the White House briefing room upon word that one of the birds, believed to be Wishbone, was on display. The press was so thick it was hard to catch a glimpse.
“I’ve never seen people around here move so fast,” said a journalist who dashed up the basement stairs with fellow reporters.
As chortling filtered out of the press briefing room to desks nearby, journalists asked each other whether they thought a turkey had reemerged for petting. “I think the excitement is just building,” someone said with an eye-roll.
While an opportunity for puns and fun in Washington, turkey pardons are a bitter moment for some Americans seeking actual pardons, including prison inmates who watch the shows on television.
