President Biden Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkeys While Marking 81st Birthday With Jokes About His Age
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.
