Trump ruins turkey pardon tradition with unhinged murder rant

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump turned the traditional pre-Thanksgiving turkey pardon at the White House into a platform to rant about murder and to air his grievances about Democrats.

Historically the pardon has been a lighthearted affair launching the holiday season. But Trump chose a different path.

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As he stood with live turkeys nearby, Trump argued that his decision to send federal troops into Washington had a dramatic effect on crime—particularly homicide.

“We haven’t had a murder in six months,” he said. This is a lie.

On Friday, D.C. Metropolitan Police announced a shooting death in the Southeast region of the city. The department also announced on that day that an arrest had been made in a fatal stabbing.

Overall, homicides are down in Washington from a year ago—undermining the justifications Trump has made for invading the capital. In fact, there are over 70 fewer homicides for the year so far compared to 2020, the last year of Trump’s first term. But over the last six months there have been at least 70 homicides, much more than Trump’s statement.

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Trump also used the pardon to take a partisan shot, injecting party politics into what has usually been a nonpartisan event. Trump said when he first saw the pictures of the turkeys he was “first going to call them Chuck [Schumer] and Nancy [Pelosi], but then I realized I wouldn’t be pardoning them,” adding, “I would never pardon those two people.”

His predecessors didn’t use the Thanksgiving pardon as a grievance platform or for the promotion of conspiratorial falsehoods.

In his final turkey pardon in 2024, former President Joe Biden urged the country to “never give up” and to “keep the faith.” Former President Barack Obama became known over his two terms in office for using the turkey pardon to read off a litany of dad jokes and puns that made his daughters, Malia and Sasha, cringe.

Obama joked about turkeys who “didn’t get to ride the gravy train to freedom.” Trump rants about murder and his political enemies. Happy holiday? 

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