Lame-duck president pardons Thanksgiving turkey in fowl tradition
US President Donald Trump has emerged from self-imposed isolation to show that at least one thing in Washington would run according to tradition: the pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey.
President Donald Trump pardons Corn, the national Thanksgiving turkey, in the Rose Garden of the White House, as first lady Melania Trump watches. (Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
In the White House Rose Garden, Trump stuck to the script in pardoning a 19kg turkey named Corn as part of an annual presidential ritual, the sparing of a turkey from American dinner tables on the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
“Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon,” Trump said on Tuesday, raising a hand over the white bird to applause from White House staffers.
Since losing the election to Democrat Joe Biden three weeks ago, Trump has defied custom. There’s been no concession speech and no phone call to Biden. He has largely remained out of sight.
Trump has bitterly fought the results of the November 3 election but his administration’s move on Monday to allow for a proper Biden transition was a sign he knows he is a lame-duck president.
Trump’s annual trek to his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago resort for Thanksgiving was cancelled by first lady Melania Trump, a seeming acknowledgement the Trumps realise this will be the last such holiday they spend at the White House.
-AAP
