Trump pardons his first Thanksgiving turkey

Washington D.C. [United States], November 22 (ANI): Continuing a longstanding pre-Thanksgiving White House tradition, United States President Donald Trump has pardoned two turkeys, Drumstick and Wishbone, in the Rose Garden.

Although, Trump officially pardoned two turkeys, Twitterati chose Drumstick, rather than Wishbone, to be the official National Turkey.

Drumstick garnered 60% support over rival Wishbone.

"And the National Thanksgiving Turkey is... DRUMSTICK!," the White House tweeted.

"Wow, big bird," the President said as he approached the 36-pound turkey, petting it several times. "Drumstick, you are hereby pardoned," CNN reported.

The White House, in another tweet post, had earlier asked, "Which turkey should be pardoned during the National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning Ceremony?"

"After the pardoning, Drumstick and Wishbone will join last year's turkeys, Tater and Tot, at Virginia Tech's "Gobblers Rest" exhibit," the tweet added.

Although Drumstick was chosen as the 2017 National Thanksgiving Turkey via an online vote, both birds will live out their days in Virginia, where other pardoned birds have resided.

Trump took the opportunity to crack some jokes about his administration's reversal of his predecessor's legacy.

Trump said, "As many of you know, I've been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor."

"However, I have been informed by the White House counsel's office that Tater and Tot's pardons cannot, under any circumstances, be revoked," he added, referring to the turkeys pardoned by former President Barack Obama last year.

"So we're not going to revoke them. So Tater and Tot: You can rest easy."

According to the reports, former U.S. President Obama was fond of telling pun-laden jokes at the event.

It's the 70th anniversary of the turkey presentation. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI