President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned two giant white-plumed turkeys named Gobble and Waddle, sparing them from Thanksgiving dinner tables in a Rose Garden ceremony that continued a White House tradition of turkey-clemency formalized under President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
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Waddle and Gobble, whose names were chosen in an online public vote, were highlights of the White House event, although only one of turkeys were present during Trump’s speech. "See how happy he is," Trump said as Gobble flapped for cameras. "Waddle, by the way, is missing in action, but that's OK, we can pretend Waddle is here," the president joked about the missing bird.
The broad-breasted birds, weighing about 52 and 50 pounds, were raised in Wayne County, North Carolina, and spent the night before the ceremony in a suite at Washington's Willard InterContinental hotel, a now-standard perk in the modern photo-friendly ritual.
The National Turkey Federation provided the turkeys and will return them to North Carolina, where they are slated to live out their days under the care of the Prestage Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
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The turkey presentation dates to the 1940s, but the "pardon" itself only became customary in recent decades. This year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. formally certified Gobble and Waddle as the first "Make America Healthy Again" turkeys, highlighting the administration's effort to brand the lighthearted event with a policy slogan.
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Trump also used the moment for political jabs. He said he had considered renaming the birds "Chuck" and "Nancy," after Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but quipped, "I would never pardon those two people."
The president revisited his rivalry with predecessor Joe Biden as well, claiming last year's turkeys, Peach and Blossom, pardoned by Biden, were not validly spared because an autopen signed the proclamation.
Trump again argued that Thanksgiving is getting cheaper under his watch, pointing to a Walmart-sponsored basket he said cost about 25% less than last year. But the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey found only a 5% decline in the average cost of a traditional dinner for 10, to $55.18, leaving prices well above pre-pandemic levels.
Photo Courtesy: Andrew Leyden on Shutterstock.com
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