US President Joe Biden kicked off his final holiday season in the White House on Monday by pardoning two turkeys that will be “escaped” from the Thanksgiving table.
Biden welcomed 2,500 guests to the South Lawn as he cracked jokes about the fate of “Peach” and “Blossom,” the two pardoned turkeys who will live out their remaining days in southern Minnesota.
“It was the honor of my life. I will be forever grateful,” Biden, 82, said of his term that ends on January 20, 2025.
At that point, power will transfer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the man Biden defeated four years ago and who fought again until he was pressured to drop out of the race amid concerns about his age and viability.
The president and first lady Jill Biden will continue a busy series of festivities leading up to Trump’s inauguration that will also serve as a long farewell.
The White House calendar in December is packed with holiday festivities, involving everyone from staff to members of Congress and the White House media.
Biden led the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys, named after the official flower of the president’s home state of Delaware.
“Peach pie in my state is one of my favorites,” he said during remarks that were occasionally interrupted by “Peach.”
“Peach is making a last-minute appeal,” Biden said at one point, drawing laughter from a crowd that included cabinet members, White House staff and their families.
“Peach” and “Blossom” come from John Zimmerman’s farm near the southern Minnesota town of Northfield. Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, a group that has presented turkeys to U.S. presidents at Thanksgiving since the Truman administration after World War II.
President Harry Truman, however, chose to eat the birds. Official pardoning ceremonies did not become an annual White House tradition until the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
Also on Monday, first lady Jill Biden received the official White House Christmas tree, which will be decorated and displayed in the Blue Room.
The 18-foot-tall tree was shipped from a farm in western North Carolina that was recently devastated by Hurricane Helene.
No comments:
Post a Comment