President Biden Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkeys While Marking 81st Birthday With Jokes About His Age
November 20, 2023 9:59AM PST
President Joe Biden stands next to Liberty, one of the two national Thanksgiving turkeys, after pardoning them during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has spent part of his 81st birthday observing the White House tradition of pardoning Thanksgiving turkeys.
Gobblers Liberty and Bell received executive clemency Monday at a White House ceremony.
Biden mentioned his age and joked that he wasn’t at the first of these events held 76 yeas ago.
The 20-week-old, 42-pound birds were hatched and bred in Willmar, Minnesota, by the Jennie-O turkey company for the occasion.
The turkey pardon ceremony marks the unofficial start of the holiday season in Washington.
Also Monday, Jill Biden welcomes delivery of a Fraser fir from North Carolina as the official White House Christmas tree.
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