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Donald Trump makes bizarre Obama joke as he pardons a turkey ahead of Thanksgiving

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JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

As is White House tradition, on Tuesday afternoon Donald Trump pardoned a pair of turkeys in the Rose Garden.

It has served as a ridiculous photo-op for Presidents, who grant the birds clemency to go live out their days on a Virginia Tech University campus called - we kid you not - Gobbler's Rest.

Last year, Barack Obama summed up his feelings towards the ceremony for Tater and Tot:

It is my great privilege — well, it's my privilege — actually, let's just say it's my job to grant them clemency this afternoon.

He then launched into a series of completely awful puns:

What I haven't told them yet is we are going to do this every year from now on. No cameras, just us, every year. No way I'm cutting this habit cold turkey.

Tater is here in a backup role just in case Tot can't fulfill his duties. So he's sort of like the vice turkey. We're working on getting him a pair of aviator glasses.

I want to take a moment to recognize the brave turkeys who weren't so lucky. Who didn't get to ride the gravy train to freedom. Who met their fate with courage and sacrifice and proved that they weren't chicken.

We should also make sure everyone has something to eat on Thanksgiving. Of course, except the turkeys, because they're already stuffed.

When somebody at your table tells you that you've been hogging all of the side dishes, you can't have any more, I hope that you respond with a creed that sums up the spirit of a hungry people: 'Yes, we cran.'

Look, I know there are some bad ones in here, but this is the last time I'm doing this, so we're not leaving any room for leftovers.

This year was Donald Trump's turn. Thankfully there were fewer puns.

Tater and Tot, surprisingly, came up in Donald Trump's pardoning too:

As many of you know, I have 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.

Trump tweeted coverage of his pardoning ceremony:

After the ceremony Trump left for Florida to his Mar a Lago golf club for his own Thanksgiving.

HT GQ

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