Two National Thanksgiving turkeys are seen in the Rose Garden of the White House before an amnesty ceremony in Washington on November 19, 2021.
Susan Walsh / AP
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Two National Thanksgiving turkeys are seen in the Rose Garden of the White House before an amnesty ceremony in Washington on November 19, 2021.
Susan Walsh / AP
Peanut Butter and Jelly won’t be on the Thanksgiving table this year.
That is: two national turkeys, named Peanut Butter and Jelly, have been pardoned by the president.
“With power given to me, I pardon you,” President Biden told Peanut Butter at a White House ceremony on Friday.
After he didn’t let Peanut Butter be his dinner, Biden encouraged the turkey to share his thoughts: “Say it, say something.”
“Eat it up,” replied Peanut Butter.
He also pardoned Jelly. “I forgive you, kid,” the president said.
The names of the male turkeys, raised in Jaspar, Ind., were revealed by the White House on Twitter, with captivating close-ups of the birds in a luxury room at the Willard Hotel. They took from a list of names submitted by students.
“I have to admit to you, my wife doesn’t like me to admit it: it’s what I like for lunch, peanut butter and jelly,” Biden told an audience in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Both turkeys will be returned to Indiana to Purdue University’s Animal Science Research and Education Ranch “to live out the rest of their lives,” National Turkish Federation President Phil Seger said.
Biden pardoned the turkey after a routine colonoscopy. He was sedated for the procedure, briefly transferred the presidency to Vice President Harris.
Biden and the first lady will travel to North Carolina next week to celebrate Thanksgiving with military families at Fort Bragg.
The White House has a ruffled history
There is confusion around the origin of the presidential turkey pardon; Even Bill Clinton mistakenly believed that Truman was the first to pardon a turkey. Truman’s Library had to issue another statement stating.
President George Bush and Shannon Duffy, 8, of Fairfax, Va., look over a Thanksgiving turkey presented to the president by the National Foundation of Turkey at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 1989.
Marcy Nighswander / AP
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President George Bush and Shannon Duffy, 8, of Fairfax, Va., look over a Thanksgiving turkey presented to the president by the National Foundation of Turkey at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 1989.
Marcy Nighswander / AP
John F. Kennedy seems to be the first president to pardon a turkey on Thanksgiving, saying, “We’re going to let this one grow up.” George HW Bush formalize the turkey amnesty in 1989.
Over the years, the turkeys pardoned were named Corn and Cob; Bread and butter; Honest and Abe; Tater and Tot. Former President Obama even did it every year an opportunity to introduce his father’s jokes.
“Time flies, even if the turkey doesn’t,” Obama said at the 2014 turkey pardon.
Tien Le is an intern at NPR’s News Desk.
