--- title: President Obama: Read the Transcript From the Turkey Pardon description: Read the transcript of President Barack Obama's turkey-themed puns and jokes from his final Thanksgiving pardon ceremony on Wednesday canonical: https://time.com/4581815/president-obama-turkey-puns-thanksgiving-pardon/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-23T21:47:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:59:12.820Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Final 'Dad Jokes About Turkeys' at Thanksgiving Pardon og:description: "That's worth gobbling about" og:url: https://time.com/4581815/president-obama-turkey-puns-thanksgiving-pardon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e0f14b61cf4a043/6988afa8cd1bba0ea970335f/barack-obama-turkey-pardon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Final 'Dad Jokes About Turkeys' at Thanksgiving Pardon twitter:description: "That's worth gobbling about" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e0f14b61cf4a043/6988afa8cd1bba0ea970335f/barack-obama-turkey-pardon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Final 'Dad Jokes About Turkeys' From the Thanksgiving Pardon > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b47174a8-913d-446d-9f27-11ffb1cdda9d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 23, 2016 9:47 PM UTC  President Barack Obama (R) pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey, 'Tot,' with his nephews Aaron and Austin Robinson in a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on Nov. 23, 2016 in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama (R) pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey, 'Tot,' with his nephews Aaron and Austin Robinson in a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House on Nov. 23, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 23, 2016 9:47 PM UTC President Barack Obama on Wednesday [pardoned turkeys Tater and Tot](http://time.com/4581781/president-obama-thanksgiving-turkey-pardon/), delivering a series of fowl-themed jokes during his final [presidential pardon ceremony](http://time.com/4575217/presidential-turkey-pardon/). “For the past seven years, I’ve [established another tradition](http://time.com/4127536/live-president-obama-pardons-a-turkey/), embarrassing my daughters with a corny-copia of dad jokes about turkeys,” said Obama, who brought his two nephews with him this year. Even without Sasha and Malia, who “just couldn’t take my jokes anymore,” Obama kept up the tradition of Thanksgiving puns. “Look, I know there’s some bad ones in here, but this is the last time I’m doing this, so we’re not leaving any room for leftovers,” he said. 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