In keeping in with the presidential tradition, on Tuesday afternoon Donald Trump, flanked by First Lady Melania Trump and his youngest son Barron, participated in the Thanksgiving turkey pardon — a ceremony held on the White House lawn every year. This year the two lucky turkeys, aptly named Drumstick and Wishbone, are being sent to live out their days in a sanctuary at nearby Virginia Tech.
After congratulating himself for being a nicer president than Harry Truman, who did not pardon any turkeys, Trump got onto the business at hand. “Over the past 10 months, Melania and I have had the pleasure of welcoming many, many special visitors to the White House,” Trump said, reading off a teleprompter. “We’ve hosted dozens of incredible world leaders, members of congress, and along the way, a few very strange birds.”
“But we have yet to receieve any visitors quite like our magnificent guests of honor today, Drumstick,” Trump continued. “Hi Drumstick,” the President of the United States then said. “Oh, I think Drumstick is going to be very happy.”
Of course. Of course Trump couldn’t get through the pardoning of the turkeys without doing or saying something awkward, and as such “Drumstick” almost immediately began trending on Twitter, and everyone had the same reaction.
Trump to turkey: " Hi, Drumstick. Drumstick I think will be very happy." https://t.co/Xy47QaYT77
— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) November 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/andy_schauer/status/933036696806989824
https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN/status/933034164932300800
oh hai drumstick
— Ritzo (@StaceyRitzen) November 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/kaleidoscope__7/status/933036059394564096
Yes, POTUS just greeted a turkey by name. #HiDrumstick https://t.co/sXDEXutuPv
— Kaelyn Forde (@kaelynforde) November 21, 2017
"Hi Drumstick," – President Donald J. Trump
— Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) November 21, 2017
"Hi Drumstick." pic.twitter.com/Fpw8AjzIOC
— j.d. durkin (@jd_durkin) November 21, 2017
Others had jokes about the pardoning:
Guess when it's a turkey he asks permission. pic.twitter.com/aCv2gS8bVD
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) November 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/itsa_talia/status/933036761877499904
It’s official. President Trump’s pardons to date:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Drumstick— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) November 21, 2017
Somewhere Jared Kushner wonders if he can retroactively change his name to "Drumstick" https://t.co/jvofniA7cU
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 21, 2017
Trump to wishbone: "You're fried."
— Adrian Carrasquillo (@Carrasquillo) November 21, 2017
Trumps about to tweet all mad that the turkey didn’t thank him https://t.co/bnYBrOfg3R
— Alex Tumay (@alextumay) November 21, 2017
What a day. You can watch the entire pardoning below via Trump’s Twitter:
President Donald J. Trump and @FLOTUS Melania Participate in the Pardoning of the National Thanksgiving Turkey at the White House. https://t.co/Zauqz4jfWv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2017