Ivanka Trump Was The Turkeys' Biggest Fan At This Year's Turkey Pardon
Everyone has their own Thanksgiving traditions, but if you're part of the first family then that includes — weirdly enough —pardoning a turkey. While most families around the country will be dining on a turkey feast, each year the president picks some lucky turkeys to pardon. As you can see by these photos of Ivanka Trump at the 2018 turkey pardon, this year's event looked like an absolute blast.
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump arrived at the White House with her adorable brood — sons Theodore and Joseph, and daughter, Arabella — in the ultimate holiday spirit. Dressed in a festive trench coat with brown and white patterns and a sparkly matching headband, Trump was all smiles while sitting in the front row of the ceremony. As the turkeys Peas and Carrots (which her father spared from becoming Thanksgiving dinner) roamed around the White House lawn, she appeared to be wide-eyed, marveling over the birds and smiling gleefully when they approached her.
At one point, the first daughter even got out of her seat and took her children closer for a first-hand look at the turkeys, and the photos of the interaction are pretty cute. I mean, just look at that smile on Arabella:
Who was more excited, Trump or her kids, though? You be the judge.
Even more impressive than the photos? There was seemingly no indication whatsoever of all the drama surrounding Trump right now. On Nov. 19, The Washington Post reported that the first daughter had used a personal email to send hundreds of messages about White House business, which is a violation of federal records rules. Although Trump and her lawyers have defended her actions by saying she wasn't aware of the rules, House Democrats have already vowed to investigate her. The White House did not reply to Elite Daily's request for comment on the issue.
In any case, the pardoning ceremony seems to be a time when the presidential family can kick back and have some Turkey Day fun. Last year, during the president's first pardoning ceremony on Nov. 21, Trump was rocking a perfect fall shade of red, and was all smiles petting one of the lucky birds, either Wishbone or Drumstick (which I'm sorry, are terrible names for two birds that possibly almost got eaten, too soon), according to a photo she posted on Instagram captioned "Getting ready for Thanksgiving."
Just look at how much fun they were having.
Someone please caption a thought bubble for this turkey.
Trump and her daughter Arabella weren't the only ones who seemed to be having a good time at last year's ceremony. President Trump was in fine spirits using the holiday to make some excuse-me-but-what type jokes about President Barack Obama. Before pardoning Wishbone and Drumstick, President Trump said that his pardoned turkeys would be joining Obama's 2016 turkeys, Tater and Tot, on Gobbler's Rest located on the Virginia Tech campus. Then he followed up the news with what he construed as a joke. First he praised the amount of Obama-era "executive actions" he managed to overturn, then assured the crowd that Tater and Tot wouldn't meet the same fate. President Trump said,
As many of you know, I have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor. However, I have been informed by the White House Council's office that Tater and Tot's pardons cannot under any circumstances be revoked. So we're not gonna revoke them. So Tater and Tot, you can rest easy.
What's that saying, "what goes around comes around?" Trump might have tried to sling some shade at Obama, but Twitter roasted the president tenfold. If you thought that a turkey pardoning was a pretty chill ceremony where the first family smiles with some turkeys for the photo op, well, OK maybe you're right, but Twitter didn't let that stop them from going all in.
Regardless of what happens at these pardoning events, at least there are two more turkeys safe and living out their days with Tater, Tot, Wishbone, and Drumstick (but maybe lets stop naming the turkeys after food altogether).
