President Donald Trump on Tuesday spared two turkeys, Gobble and Waddle, as part of an annual White House Thanksgiving tradition.
“Waddle, by the way, is missing in action, but that’s OK. We’ll pretend Waddle is here,” the president said during remarks in the Rose Garden.
“You are hereby unconditionally pardoned,” he then said to Gobble, who responded by, of course, gobbling.
“Garrhhh!” Trump said, in an apparent attempt to imitate the poultry’s gobble.
Besides the turkeys, Trump has granted nearly 2,000 pardons and commutations in his second term so far — mostly to benefit his allies and supporters. Overall, his pardons — unlike those issued by his predecessors — have focused more on allies and celebrities and less on regular Americans who have been the victims of an overly harsh criminal justice system, experts say. Experts say this flood of pardons, which typically come at the end of a president’s term, demonstrates that Trump has rewarded his allies, supporters, and others connected to his inner circle while overlooking those who have actually met the Justice Department’s pardon requirements.
Trump’s pardons and commutations are currently set to outpace former President Joe Biden, who holds a record 4,245 clemency actions in a single term.
