Biden set to use his pardon power Monday for Thanksgiving turkey tradition

By Betsy Klein, CNN

Washington (CNN) — With just two months until he leaves office, President Joe Biden is gearing up to utilize his presidential pardon power for fowl reasons.

Justice will be served Monday as Biden pardons the national Thanksgiving turkeys on the White House South Lawn, CNN has exclusively learned, participating in the 77^th annual tradition of the turkey presentation, according to a White House official.

The president will talk turkey and make much ado about stuffing at his fourth and final Thanksgiving roast, a yearly opportunity for a cornucopia of puns and a moment to give thanks – providing some levity amid a range of global crises and the aftermath of a hectic campaign season.

Weighing in at 40 and 41 pounds, this year’s birds were hatched in July in Northfield, Minnesota, and will ride the gravy train to Washington over the weekend, according to Alex Davidson, a spokesperson for the National Turkey Federation. They’ll spend the customary night in a luxe suite at the nearby Willard Hotel, where their names will be unveiled at a press conference. They will be presented to Biden by National Turkey Federation chair John Zimmerman, who raised the turkeys on his independent farm.

Following their expected pardon, both turkeys will retreat to Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretative center in southern Minnesota, Davidson said.

Rumors of turkey pardons go back in presidential history as far as Abraham Lincoln’s administration. Folklore has it that Lincoln’s young son asked his father to spare a pet turkey that was supposed to be part of their Thanksgiving dinner.

A competitive version of the ceremony became national news in 1920, when a turkey from Texas sent to Woodrow Wilson in a White House-shaped crate battled outside the White House with a turkey from Kentucky. The Kentucky bird emerged victorious, according to the White House Historical Association.

The National Turkey Foundation became the official turkey supplier to the first family in 1947, and the formal turkey presentation ceremony has been around since Harry Truman. Truman was the first to accept a turkey from the group – however, he did not spare it.

The first documented turkey pardon was given by John F. Kennedy in 1963, though it didn’t catch on right away. Even though Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, neither one of them decided to pardon any turkeys as president.

Turkey pardoning became the norm in 1989, when George H.W. Bush revived the tradition, now a staple of the White House holiday season.

Biden’s most recent predecessors have peppered their pardons with turkey and other topical political puns.

After the 2022 midterm elections, Biden joked that the two birds were part of “another flock hoping to come to Washington in 2024.”

“The votes are in, they’ve been counted and verified, no ballot stuffing, no fowl play. The only red wave this season is going to be if German shepherd Commander knocks over the cranberry sauce,” he said.

Donald Trump poked fun at the impeachment inquiry against him in 2019, telling a crowd that the turkeys “have already received subpoenas to appear in Adam Schiff’s basement,” referring to the California Democratic then-congressman.

And Barack Obama employed his signature rhetoric in 2016: “I want to take a moment to recognize the great turkeys who weren’t so lucky, who didn’t get to ride the gravy train to freedom. Who met their fate with courage and sacrifice and proved that they weren’t chicken.”

“Yes, we cran,” Obama added.

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