“Last night, they were trying to order room service,” National Turkey Federation Chairman Gary Cooper joked.
The chairman is responsible for raising the presidential turkey flock each year. Cooper said he began raising 66 birds in July with his son Cole.
This won’t be the Cooper family's first pardoning ceremony. In 1996, another one of the family’s turkeys was ceremonially spared by President Bill Clinton.
Following Wednesday's ceremony, the two will be taken to the lush, 1,000-acre Morven Park in Virginia to retire.
But not all turkeys get off scot-free.
Despite the pardoning ceremony, turkey is still on the first family’s Thanksgiving menu. The only thing that is clear is that neither of the turkeys from Cooper Farms will be part of the feast.
Where the Obamas get the turkey that ends up on their plates remains a mystery.
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