Two lucky turkeys from North Carolina are getting pardoned by Trump
Two lucky turkeys from North Carolina traveled to Washington over the weekend and got the VIP treatment and a room in a 5-star hotel. The pair will be pardoned by President Donald Trump.
“The Presidential Turkeys have arrived in DC! The two birds are settled in at The Willard Hotel after their trek from North Carolina and are resting up for the big ceremony on Tuesday,” the White House said Sunday.
Photos show the two big turkeys, named Bread and Butter, being greeted at the Willard Hotel a block from the White House. The pair are spending a couple days in the famous hotel as they await their pardon.
Everyone can vote on the White House Facebook page on which turkey will get the official pardon and be named the National Thanksgiving Turkey.
Farmer Wellie Jackson and his son accompanied the turkeys on their trip to Washington, according to the National Turkey Federation.
Jackson said the birds destined for the White House were raised like all his others, but Bread and Butter needed a little extra training to become socialized and be able to stand still on a table, he told ABC 11, The News and Observer’s news partner.
“I had to get trained to deal with the media, and they’ve had to get trained to deal with all these people, the lights, the sound,” Jackson told the TV station.
There’s a long history of gifting turkeys to the president, dating at least as far back as President Abraham Lincoln, according to the White House. They weren’t always pardoned though.
“In December 1948, Truman accepted two turkeys and remarked that they would ‘come in handy’ for Christmas dinner,” according to the White House history. But many turkeys gifted to the White House were sent to live out their days on farms.
The idea of the pardon was cemented into tradition with President George H.W. Bush in 1989. According to the White House, the senior President Bush, “with animal rights activists picketing nearby, quipped, ‘But let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy — he’s granted a Presidential pardon as of right now — and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here.’”
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 9:49 AM.
