WASHINGTON — Turkeys Liberty and Bell have new appreciation for the phrase, “Let freedom ring.”
The Thanksgiving birds played their part Monday in annual White House tradition that this year coincided with President Joe Biden’s 81st birthday: a president issuing a pardon and sparing them from becoming someone’s holiday dinner.
First, Biden — the oldest president in U.S. history — wanted to make light of his age.
“By the way, it’s my birthday today,” the president said, adding that guests in the Oval Office sang “Happy Birthday” to him before the event. “I just want you to know, it’s difficult turning 60. Difficult.”
He also noted that the presentation of a National Thanksgiving Turkey to the White House has been a tradition for more than seven decades.
“This is the 76th anniversary of this event, and I want you to know I wasn’t there at the first one,” Biden said. The Democrat’s age has become an issue as he seeks reelection next year.
Before issuing the pardons, Biden said that although Liberty and Bell are Minnesota natives, they were named for the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
“These birds have a new appreciation for the word, ‘let freedom ring,’” he said, adding that they love Honeycrisp apples, ice hockey, a thousand lakes and the Mall of America — all things the Midwest state is famous for. Minnesota is known the “land of 10,000 lakes.”
Hundreds of guests, including Cabinet secretaries and White House staff who brought children, watched from the South Lawn as Biden kicked off the unofficial start of Washington’s holiday season.
Later Monday, military families joined Biden’s wife, first lady Jill Biden, as she accepted delivery of an 18.5-foot (5.6-meter) Fraser fir from the Cline Church Nursery in Fleetwood, North Carolina.