WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden pardoned a pair of turkeys on Monday ahead of Thanksgiving.
“I hereby pardon Chocolate and Chip,” Biden said from the White House South Lawn, referring to the names of the turkeys.
The pair were at a ranch in North Carolina and will live out their lives at North Carolina State University.
Beginning in the mid-20th century, the president of the United States has pardoned one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year. The country will celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Thursday this year.
Baste on tradition, Biden designated Chocolate as the official National Thanksgiving Turkey, but both Chocolate and Chip were pardoned. The birds weigh in at 46 and 47 pounds, respectively, and were raised by National Turkey Federation (NTF) chairman Ronnie Parker near Monroe, North Carolina.
The first documented turkey pardon was given by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, though it didn’t catch on right away.
Turkey pardoning became the norm in the White House in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush revived the tradition, now a staple of the White House holiday season.
Last year, Biden pardoned Peanut Butter and Jelly as he acknowledged a return to Thanksgiving traditions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Native Americans have been protesting against Thanksgiving, which some of them call “a day of mourning.”
“Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures,” said the United American Indians of New England, a Native American activist organization.
The Biden family will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where family discussions about the president’s political future and a 2024 run will begin in earnest. — NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES
