President pardons turkeys Chocolate and Chip
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden continued a 75-year tradition Monday and pardoned a pair of Thanksgiving turkeys named after his favorite flavor of ice cream while cracking jokes about his political party’s better-thanexpected performance in this month’s midterm elections.
“The votes are in, they’ve been counted and verified,”
Biden said as he welcomed Chocolate and Chip before hundreds of people gathered on the South Lawn in unseasonably cold weather. “There’s no ballot stuffing. There’s no fowl play. The only red wave this season’s gonna be if German Shepard Commander knocks over the cranberry sauce on our table.”
Commander is his dog. Chocolate and Chip, each weighing nearly 50 pounds, were driven up from North Carolina on Saturday and were checked into a room at the Willard hotel near the White House to await their visit with the president and his declaration of their freedom.
“I hereby pardon Chocolate and Chip,” Biden declared.
Before the ceremony, Biden’s son Hunter Biden brought his toddler son, Beau, who is almost 3, outside to see the turkeys.
Both gobblers were hatched in July in Monroe, North Carolina, according to the National Turkey Federation, sponsor of the turkey tradition, which dates to 1947 and President Harry Truman.
Biden and his wife, Jill, were scheduled to leave Washington on Tuesday to continue their family tradition of spending the Thanksgiving holiday on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.
The president ended the event on a serious note, encouraging people to get their COVID-19 vaccines.