President Donald Trump will be giving two pardons on Tuesday — and this time it won’t involve a controversial figure like former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Watch Donald Trump pardon turkeys: time, live stream, and what to expect
The recipients will be Wishbone and Drumstick, two roughly 40-pound turkeys, which were selected by the National Turkey Federation to be spared from the Thanksgiving Day feast this Thursday.
Per a bizarre White House tradition, which was made an official event in 1989 under George H.W. Bush, the president, joined by the first lady, will grant these two turkeys clemency in the Rose Garden before taking off for Florida to celebrate the holiday.
“After the pardoning, the turkeys will join last year’s turkeys at Virginia Tech’s ‘Gobblers Rest’ exhibit, where students and veterinarians care for the turkeys, and the public can visit and learn about the university’s teaching, research and outreach programs in animal and poultry sciences and veterinary medicine,” a White House statement said.
Wishbone and Drumstick spent last night in the luxury Washington, DC, Willard InterContinental hotel.
Where: Rose Garden, White House
When: 1 pm
How to watch: The White House will be live-streaming the occasion.
What to expect: Under President Barack Obama, the event included a lot of dad jokes about presidential pardoning power and turkeys. It’s a lighthearted, and weird, affair.
We’re not exactly sure how it will be with Trump, but last time the president interacted with a large bird, posing with a bald eagle for a Time magazine cover photo shoot, it did not go well. Let’s just say Trump’s hair got a little ruffled.
Here’s Twitter thread with some other ideas on how this event could go awry:
For more turkey pardoning trivia, read Brad Plumer’s explainer about how this strange White House tradition actually has roots in the Iran-Contra scandal, why the turkeys actually go on to lead miserable lives, and how a president’s pardoning power is rarely used.
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