Biden participates in his final White House turkey pardon

President Biden pardoned two turkeys from Minnesota on Monday, in keeping with the annual White House turkey pardon tradition. 

It was Mr. Biden’s final turkey pardon as president, before President-elect Donald Trump is tasked with keeping up the tradition. This year’s turkeys, Peach and Blossom, are named after the Delaware state flower, the peach blossom, which symbolizes resilience, Mr. Biden said. The president joked that the more than 2,000 people who gathered for the event were there seeking a pardon, as he has less than two months in office. 

“Today, Peach and Blossom will join the free birds of the United States of America,” Mr. Biden told the crowd on the White House South Lawn, with the turkeys gobbling occasionally in the background. 

“Based on your temperament and commitment to being productive members of society, I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom!” he declared. 

But the president took a more serious tone as he concluded his remarks. 

“Let me close on a more serious note— this event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington,” he said. “It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during the season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to you, it’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful.”

The turkeys stayed in a luxurious suite at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel near the White House in the days leading up to their moment in the limelight, a tradition for the turkeys as they await their fate. 

John Zimmerman, this year’s chairman of the National Turkey Federation, raises more than 100,000 turkeys every year, and said he selected two of his best. 

“We want them to be prepared for the spotlight, we want them to get used to lights, noises and anything they will encounter in DC,” he told CBS Minnesota. “We expose them to different noises, lights. All sorts of music, from hard rock to polka to Prince.”

Both turkeys will head to Farmamerica: MN Agricultural Interpretive Center in Waseca, Minnesota, to live out the rest of their days in peace, away from anyone’s Thanksgiving table.

Last year, Mr. Biden pardoned “Liberty” and “Bell,” joking that they have a new appreciation for the words, “‘Let freedom ring.'”