Kicker - A presidential pardon

NICK EICHER, HOST: President Trump issued a presidential pardon at the White House on Tuesday.

TRUMP: Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon. Thank you, Corn.

Corn and his companion turkey Cob were the two selected for the annual White House ceremony. They held a vote and Corn was the winner—no recounts! No lawsuits! We’ll have a peaceful transfer! Don’t worry!

So Corn won the official pardon and Cob, well, he’s not the winner, but good news for him: he’s not dinner. The two will live out their days on the farm.

The tradition started during the George H.W. Bush presidency. But President Trump said its roots go back much further…

TRUMP: The first turkey to dodge the White House dinner table received unofficial clemency when Abraham Lincoln’s son, Tad, begged his father to spare his new friend.

The two birds were plucked from a presidential flock of 30 turkeys. And with names like Corn and Cob, where else could they have been raised but in Iowa!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Donald Trump pardons Corn, the national Thanksgiving turkey, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, in Washington, as first lady Melania Trump watches. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.