WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden commenced the holiday week on Monday by issuing the final turkey pardon of his presidency, upholding the customary White House tradition.
Biden pardoned the two lucky birds, Peach and Blossom, who escaped the fate of ending up on someone’s Thanksgiving table this year. The birds are just 17 weeks old, according to a National Turkey Federation press conference Sunday.
Biden said the birds were named after the Delaware state flower: the Peach Blossom.
The President began his remarks with a joke at the crowd size.
“They tell me there’s 2,500 people here today…looking for a pardon,” Biden joked.
As the president was about to pardon Peach, the bird gobbled from the stage.
“Peach is making a last-minute plea here,” he told the crowd.
Following their pardons, both turkeys will become agricultural ambassadors and enjoy retirement on a farm in Southern Minnesota, the National Turkey Federation said.
Biden the closed his remarks on a serious note, acknowledging this would be his final turkey pardoning of his presidency.
“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington,” Biden said. “It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to you, it’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful.”
“May we use this moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most: our families,” Biden said. “My dad used to have an expression, family is the beginning, the middle and the end, our friends and our neighbors. The fact that we are blessed to live in America, the greatest country on Earth — and that’s not hyperbole. We are. No matter what, in America we never give up. We keep going, we keep the faith.”
