It’s become part of the annual tradition of the White House Thanksgiving turkey ritual: voting to see which of the two official birds will be pardoned, and which will be the alternate. This year’s winner: “Drumstick,” who garnered 60% support over rival “Wishbone,” who earned 40%.
They arrived with a lot of squawking over the weekend in Washington, resting up in a swank room at The Willard Intercontinental Hotel, complete with twin beds and a floor covered in wood chips.
The hotel stay is paid for by the National Turkey Federation, which supplies two turkeys each year for the presidential pardoning ceremony, to be held Tuesday in the Rose Garden and presided over by President Donald Trump and Melania Trump.
Wishbone and Drumstick were both raised on a Minnesota turkey farm. Though Drumstick won the online White House poll, in actuality, both will go on to live at “Gobbler’s Rest,” on the campus of Virginia Tech, where other pardoned birds have resided.
The White House also established two short bios on each turkey, so we can learn more about them — for instance, one’s into classic rock, one prefers country music. As for “strut style,” Drumstick does his thing “tall and proud,” and Wishbone’s more of a “strong shuffle.”
There’s one in every bunch or pack or flock or gaggle — or whatever you call a grouping of turkeys.
Despite the poll, however, the National Turkey Federation says the decision on which turkey is hired and which is fired belongs to Trump himself, which means it could go either way.
Tuesday’s official turkey pardoning is scheduled for 1 p.m. May the best gobbler win.