Keeping With Tradition, 2 Turkeys Have Been Pardoned—Watch Them Join “The Free Birds”

Thanksgiving is just days away, and millions of families will serve fancy meals. The star of the show is the turkey. Whether it’s smoked, fried, baked, or stuffed, the bird is the word on Thanksgiving. But two lucky turkeys won’t make their way to your home on Thursday, as President Biden pardoned them as part of a long-standing American tradition. More than 2,000 people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House as the president addressed the crowd. He introduced them to Peach and Blossom, this year’s blessed birds.

Videos by InspireMore

According to the White House, the actual origin of the turkey pardon is unkind. Some say it began with President Abraham Lincoln and others with President Harry S. Truman. President John F. Kennedy pardoned the first turkey in public in 1963, and the tradition continues.  

“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington,” Biden said. “It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So let me say to you, it’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful.”

He added that Thanksgiving is a time for families to reflect and love each other.

“May we use this moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most: our families,” President Biden said. “My dad used to have an expression, family is the beginning, the middle, and the end, our friends and our neighbors. The fact that we are blessed to live in America, the greatest country on Earth — and that’s not hyperbole. We are. No matter what, in America, we never give up. We keep going, we keep the faith.”

The president shared Peach and Blossom’s names came from the Delaware state flower, the peach blossom. They weighed in at 41 and 40 pounds. After he pardoned the turkeys, the president joked. “And today, Peach and Blossom will join the free birds of the United States of America.”

You can find this story’s featured image here.