President Biden Pardons National Turkeys in Packed South Lawn Ceremony

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden continued a White House tradition on Monday, granting two turkeys a permanent reprieve from the Thanksgiving dinner table.

This year’s pardonees were Peach and Blossom, two Minnesota-bred turkeys, weighing 40 and 41 pounds, who were named in honor of the Peach Blossom, the state flower of Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Monday’s event marked the last time Biden will be bestowing the annual pardon, and, he said today, it’d likely be the last time he addressed the American public this holiday season.

“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington,” Biden said before an estimated crowd of 2,500 invitees . “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.”

Peach and Blossom were hatched on July 18 in Northfield, Minnesota, and raised on a farm belonging to John Zimmerman, chairman of the National Turkey Federation.

During a pre-pardon event held at Washington, D.C.’s posh Willard Hotel on Sunday afternoon, Zimmerman told reporters that once chosen to be the National Turkeys, Peach and Blossom underwent special training to keep them calm in crowded environments and when appearing before lights and cameras.

Both performed admirably on Monday, walking around the presidential podium while Biden spoke, and gobbling only once during his remarks — to the delight of the large crowd, especially after he quipped that one of the birds was entering “a last minute plea.”

The president also recalled previous turkeys that he pardoned: Liberty and Bell in 2023, Chocolate and Chip in 2022, and Peanut Butter and Jelly in 2021.

“And today, Peach and Blossom will join the free birds of the United States of America,” Biden said.

The president joked Peach lived by the motto “keep calm and gobble on.” Blossom’s mantra, he said, was “no foul play, just Minnesota nice.”

Turning a bit more sentimental, the president asked Americans to seize the Thanksgiving holiday as a “moment to take time from our busy lives and focus on what matters most: our families.” 

“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,” Biden said.

Now that they’ve been formally pardoned by the president, Peach and Blossom will return to the Midwest to live out their days at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive center in Waseca, MInnesota.

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