It may be one of the strangest acts that any President will perform, (put your hand down, Bill), but it wouldn’t be the holiday season without a pair of turkeys getting a presidential pardon.

This year’s birds, hilariously yet morbidly, “Bread” and “Butter”, were officially pardoned by Donald J. Trump at the White House this afternoon.

Meeting the National Thanksgiving Turkey before his big White House debut! 🦃 pic.twitter.com/4KH2sPs6CV

— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 26, 2019

The birds had quite the time, as evidenced by their stay in the ever-so-swanky Willard Hotel.

The Presidential Turkeys have arrived in DC! After their trek from North Carolina, the two birds are settled in at The @WillardHotel and are resting up for the ceremony on Tuesday.

Tune in tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET to learn their names and vote for which bird should be pardoned! pic.twitter.com/bSHd7gjwhM

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 25, 2019

Then, as they were receiving their fanfare in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump threw a couple of butterballs in the direction of House Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff.

In the latest evidence that the impeachment fight is all-consuming, Trump wise-cracked that the birds already had been summoned to appear for the House Intelligence Committee chairman’s inquiry.

“These turkeys will remain calm under any condition,” Trump said. “Which is good because they’ve been subpoenaed to appear in Adam Schiff’s basement on Thursday.”

He continued:

“Unlike previous witnesses, you and I have actually met,” Trump said to the birds on Tuesday.

For good measure, Trump took a swipe at the media as well: “I expect the pardon will be popular with the media,” Trump said. “After all, turkeys [are] closely related to vultures.”

The tradition of pardoning a turkey for the Thanksgiving holiday originated with President George H.W. Bush all the way back in 1989.

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