President Joe Biden has made sure Liberty and Bell will not be gobbled up this Thanksgiving.
The president carved out some time on Monday to grant pardons to the two turkeys as part of an annual White House tradition that goes back decades.
“These birds have a new appreciation of the words, ‘let freedom ring,'” Biden said.
The Minnesota-born-and-bred birds will head back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes to spread their wings and receive care from the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences until their very last gobble.
After issuing his pardon, the president talked turkey. “Let’s remind ourselves that we’re blessed to live in the greatest nation on this face of this Earth,” Biden said.
The president also marked his 81st birthday on Monday. He’s already the oldest president in U.S. history. “This is the 76th anniversary of this event. I want you to know I wasn’t there for the first one,” the president said, stuffing yet another joke in his remarks.
Casey Kuhn, Dan Cooney, Yasmeen Alamiri and Julia Griffin set the table for this post.
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