Screenshot/CNN
President Donald Trump pardons the Thanksgiving turkey.
- Continuing a bizarre but beloved White House tradition, President Donald Trump pardoned two turkeys on Tuesday.
- Trump didn't miss the opportunity to crack some jokes, including about former Presidents Barack Obama and Harry Truman.
Continuing a longstanding pre-Thanksgiving White House tradition, President Donald Trump pardoned two turkeys, "Wishbone" and "Drumstick," during a White House ceremony on Tuesday.
Trump took the opportunity to crack some jokes about his administration's reversal of his predecessor's legacy.
After announcing that Wishbone and Drumstick will join the two turkeys that President Barack Obama pardoned last year, "Tater" and "Tot," Trump joked that he is not allowed to reverse Obama's turkey pardons.
"As many of you know," Trump said, "I have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor, however I have been informed by the White House Counsel's office that Tater and Tot's pardons cannot under any circumstances be revoked."
"Tater and Tot, you can rest easy," he said to laughs.
Trump also joked about President Harry Truman, who ate the turkeys he was gifted by the National Turkey Federation.
"Seventy years ago the National Turkey Federation presented the first National Turkey to President Truman," he said. "He did not grant the pardon. He refused. He was a tough cookie. Today, I'm going to be a much nicer president."
The first family, who will spend Thanksgiving at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, will donate two packaged turkeys to a charity, Martha's Table, in Washington.
Watch a clip below:
President Trump says he's been informed that he can't reverse Obama's last turkey pardons: "So Tater and Tot, you can rest easy" pic.twitter.com/HZ8mvLOkJM
- NBC News (@NBCNews) November 21, 2017