President Donald Trump will be attending the annual Thanksgiving celebration at the White House’s Rose Garden, which involves the ceremonial pardoning of two turkeys, The Washington Examiner reported.
White House moving forward with turkey pardon amid pandemic, post-election fight https://t.co/HsNJXV2vUp pic.twitter.com/pK5Gwu73On
— The Hill (@thehill) November 18, 2020
White House press secretary Judd Deere confirmed to The Washington Examiner that the president would be attending the ceremony.
The tradition was initially started in 1947 with President Harry Truman presenting a turkey, while President Ronald Reagan then became the first president to officially “pardon” his Thanksgiving turkey. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush made the tradition of pardoning a turkey an official practice.
The turkeys that are set to be pardoned by President Trump this year are being provided by Ron Kardel, the chairman for the National Turkey Federation and a sixth-generation Iowan, The Washington Examiner reported.
After being pardoned the turkeys are sent to a farm where they usually live out their remaining life – which generally spans around six months to a year. However, President Trump’s turkeys from the past two years, Peas and Carrots from 2018 and Bread and Butter from 2019, are still doing fairly well and live on Virginia Tech’s livestock farm, “Gobblers Rest,” The Washington Examiner reported.
“Crazy as it seems, they are doing fine,” the coordinator for Virginia Tech’s agricultural program, David Linker said, according to the Examiner. (RELATED: New York Sheriffs Refuse To Enforce Cuomo’s Thanksgiving Gathering Restrictions)
“The two from last year, which would be Bread and Butter, were born in July of 2019, and they look really good. Then, actually, we still have Peas and Carrots alive, and they were born in June of 2018. And they look like 2 1/s-year-old birds. They are molting a bit, but they’re healthy. Legs are still doing fine.”
The announcement of the president’s public appearance to “pardon” the two Thanksgiving turkeys comes amidst a rise in COVID-19 cases, and several states announcing another wave of shutdowns.