WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama has issued an executive action that some of his Republican opponents may be hard-pressed to disagree with – sparing Thanksgiving turkeys from the dinner table.
In the spirit of the holiday, Obama on Wednesday took “action fully within my legal authority, the same kind of action taken by Democrats and Republican presidents before me,” to pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey, a 49-pound bird named Cheese. He also spared an alternate turkey, a 47-pounder named Mac. Both came from Cooper Farms in Oakwood, Ohio.
“If you’re a turkey, and you’re named after a side dish, your chances of escaping Thanksgiving dinner are pretty low,” Obama said at the annual event, which drew international media coverage. He was accompanied by his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who declined his invitation to pet the birds. The ceremony was moved indoors because of cold, wet weather that blanketed Washington.
“So these guys are well ahead of the curve. They really beat the odds,” he said of Mac and Cheese.
Obama last week announced a series of highly anticipated executive actions immigration that have left Republicans crying “fowl.”