President Donald Trump pardoned a pair of turkeys at the White House on Tuesday, going on to joke that former President Joe Biden’s turkey pardons last year were ‘null and void’ because he used an autopen.
Trump made the joke while carrying out the decades-long White House Thanksgiving tradition, this year pardoning ‘Gobble’ and ‘Waddle.’ The crowd laughed as Trump said he saved last year’s turkeys, ‘Peach’ and ‘Blossom’ from being carved up after the nullification of Biden’s pardons.
‘I wanted to make an important announcement. Because you remember last year, after a thorough and very rigorous investigation by [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and all of the people at Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, and the White House Counsel’s Office…I have determined that last year’s turkey pardons are totally invalid,’ Trump said.
‘Null and void,’ Trump said of the pardons. ‘The turkeys known as Peach and Blossom last year have been located, and they were on their way to be processed, in other words, to be killed. But I’ve stopped that journey, and I am officially pardoning them. And they will not be served for Thanksgiving dinner. We saved them in the nick of time.’
This year’s turkeys, ‘Waddle’ and ‘Gobble,’ are the largest turkeys ever to receive a presidential pardon, Trump said. Both of the birds weigh over 50 pounds.
A National Turkey Federation spokeswoman told reporters at the White House that after Waddle and Gobble are pardoned, they will move to North Carolina State University, where they will serve as ‘Turkey ambassadors for our industry.’
First lady Melania Trump held a poll on X to name this year’s turkeys, resulting in Waddle and Gobble.
Last year’s pardoned turkeys, the aforementioned Peach and Blossom, and the ones before them, ‘Liberty’ and ‘Bell,’ all came from Minnesota.
North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Ohio, California, Virginia and Missouri have all sent turkeys to the White House.