Gobble Gobble

The 78th White House Turkey Pardoning Ceremony Commences

Photo by Raka. A Wicaksono on Unsplash

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, President Donald Trump continued the annual presidential turkey pardoning by pardoning turkeys Waddle and Gobble. The day marked the 78th National Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning Ceremony, which first began in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush. This yearly White House tradition spares the lives of two Thanksgiving turkeys.

Waddle and Gobble were raised in Wayne County, North Carolina and were given to the White House by the National Turkey Federation. Their official names were chosen via an X poll posted by the Office of the First Lady’s account. Out of 40,077 votes, “Gobble and Waddle” won over the other three choices, “Sugar and Spice,” “Pumpkin and Pie” and “Acorn and Squash,” who received 20.4%, 11% and 28% of the votes, respectively.

Prior to the ceremony, the turkeys stayed at the exclusive Willard InterContinental Hotel. They will soon return to North Carolina, where they will live the rest of their lives at North Carolina State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.