The Maui News - Weekender

Biden: Turkeys getting boosted not basted AND WORLD/IN

- The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday pardoned two Thanksgivi­ng turkeys, saying that the white male birds were selected based on their “temperamen­t, appearance and, I suspect, vaccinatio­n status.”

“Instead of getting basted, these two turkeys are getting boosted today,” Biden joked.

Biden was in a jovial mood when he appeared before White House staffers and their families in the Rose Garden to pardon the Indiana turkeys, who gobbled merrily throughout the event. And while they were given a reprieve from the fate met by millions of turkeys on Thanksgivi­ng Day, Biden said their names — Peanut Butter and Jelly — reminded him of the sandwich he often enjoys for lunch.

The pardoning comes as Biden’s agenda has seen fresh signs of life, with the president signing his $1 trillion infrastruc­ture bill on Monday and the House passing an even bigger companion bill — the $2 trillion social services and climate change bill — on Friday. That bill will have to make it through the 50-50 Senate before landing on Biden’s desk.

On Friday, Biden poked fun at his recent speeches on the infrastruc­ture bill, declaring that “turkey is infrastruc­ture” and that “Peanut Butter and Jelly are going to help build back the butterball as we move along,” a reference to his administra­tion’s “Build Back Better” catchphras­e. her fate. Typically bolt upright in her chair and staring straight ahead, Holmes has remained impassive as even one-time supporters testified to their misgivings about her actions while leading Theranos.

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