The 82-year-old president welcomed 2,500 guests on the South Lawn under sunny skies, where he continued to make jokes about the fate of “Peach” and “Blossom” and sounded a somber tone about the final weeks of his presidency after half a century in the circles of power in the country. Washington.
And he said Biden“It has always been an honor for me, and I am forever grateful,” he said, noting his imminent passing on January 20, 2025.
This is the date on which power will transfer to the Republican president-elect Donald Trumpwho was defeated by Biden four years ago and was fighting again, but was under pressure to withdraw from the race amid concerns about his age and ability to lead.
Biden enjoyed the short ceremony with… Turkeys Which was pardoned, and named after the state’s official flower Delaware The president’s birthplace.
The roosters “Peach” and “Blossom” came from John Zimmerman’s farm, near the city of Northfield in southern Minnesota.
Zimmerman, who has raised about 4 million turkeys, is president of the National Turkey Federation, the group that gives away presidents. US Thanksgiving turkeys since President Harry Truman’s administration after World War II.
However, President Truman preferred to eat birds.
The formal pardon ceremony did not become an annual tradition for the White House until the President’s administration began it George Bush Sr In 1989.
