‘Instead of Getting Basted, These Two Turkeys are Getting Boosted!’ Biden Jokes About Vaccines at Turkey Pardon

Sarah RumpfNov 19th, 2021, 4:19 pm
 
President Joe Biden pardons turkey

Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

“Peanut Butter” and “Jelly” won’t be in any Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches this year, after President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys with those sandwich-themed monikers on Friday.

The turkey pardoning festivities were held in the Rose Garden as part of a White House Thanksgiving tradition that was revived by former President George H.W. Bush and has been an annual event ever since.

Bush wasn’t the first president to pardon a turkey from the Thanksgiving feast. There’s an unconfirmed anecdote that Abraham Lincoln’s young son asked for a pet turkey to be spared, and the first documented turkey pardon was by John F. Kennedy, according to CNN.

Peanut Butter and Jelly were both raised in Indiana and their names were selected from suggestions sent into the White House by elementary school students.

Friday’s turkey pardon was Biden’s first time participating as president, and he welcomed reporters with remarks about how he personally loved having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, praised the turkeys’ temperament and appearance, and joked about their vaccination status — “instead of getting basted, these two turkeys are getting boosted!”

Biden remarked that Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Buttigieg couldn’t be there today, quipping that the turkeys had replaced them: “Peanut Butter and Jelly are the new Indiana power couple.”

“In all seriousness, it’s important to continue traditions like this, to remind us how from darkness there’s light and hope and progress, and that’s what this year’s Thanksgiving in my view represents,” said Biden, as loved ones were able to gather safely thanks to the Covid-19 vaccines.

Peanut Butter and Jelly will now return to their home state to live at Purdue University’s Animal Sciences Education and Research Farm.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.