The Conversation (0)
Isobel van Hagen
Nov 25, 2020
There was no shortage of “Lame Duck Pardons Turkey” headlines on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump performed what most-likely will be his final yearly tradition of pardoning a turkey ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays.
Taking a short break from his interest in undermining the 2020 election results and generally eroding away at the structures of American democracy, Trump found some time to pardon the 42-pound bird ‘Corn’ on Tuesday, leaving ‘Cob’ in the dust.
Trump said at the muted Rose Garden ceremony on Tuesday: “Look at that beautiful, beautiful bird. Oh, so lucky. That is a lucky bird. Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon. Thank you, Corn. What a bird. Thank you.”
He added: “Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Have a good one.”
There was an immediate comeback of questions about the Turkey pardon, as a reporter called after him: “Mr. President, will you be issuing a pardon for yourself?”
Asked somewhat ironically, the reporter seemed to reference both Trump’s propensity to pardon his former staffers, as well as potential crimes he may have committed while in office.
The backlash to the Thanksgiving ‘bizarre spectacle’ was quick and stinging: “Did Trump pardon the whole turkey or just the white meat?” Alex Cole wrote in a Twitter post – which currently has more than 125 thousand likes – seemingly referencing Trump’s racist attitude and policies.
“Trump zipping into a turkey costume to pardon himself,” another Twitter user joked.
Others were quick to joke about state prosecution chargers: “After Trump pardons the turkey, I hope it’s still prosecuted on state charges in New York.”
Once out of office, the president could face many legal challenges, including two New York state inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. He denies any wrongdoing.
Others could not help but notice the eerie similarity of a resurfaced video of the 2018 turkey pardoning to the current reality.
In November of 2018, the president pardoned a turkey named “Carrots” who had lost “a fair and open election” in the form of a White House poll.
But while “Carrots” lost the election to “Peas,” Trump claimed the turkey “refused to concede and demanded a recount.”
“This was a prophetic message,” one person wrote in response to the resurfaced video, as Trump has demanded multiple recounts on the recent election and has still refused to concede.
“In other words, the refusal to concede was premeditated at least two years in advance,” another wrote.
"Trump is the turkey of 2020," Eric Rosswood wrote.
Indeed, it seemed like the president may have found himself in a reverse situation this Thanksgiving: as one person wrote, “This year Trump is going to ask the turkey to pardon him.”