--- title: Turkeys Vying for the Annual White House Pardon description: Wishbone and Drumstick are enjoying Washington, D.C.'s best hospitality in the lead-up to the annual pre-Thanksgiving turkey pardon. canonical: https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-20T20:33:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:32:22.985Z og:title: Meet the Turkeys Vying for President Trump's Pardon og:description: One's a little bit country, the other's a little bit rock n' roll og:url: https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1538ff6302e120/6988e67acf40a8cdc7c4a45e/white-house-turkeys-media-library.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4464 og:image:height: 2511 og:image:alt: Trump Presidential Turkeys, Washington, USA - 20 Nov 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Turkeys Vying for President Trump's Pardon twitter:description: One's a little bit country, the other's a little bit rock n' roll twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1538ff6302e120/6988e67acf40a8cdc7c4a45e/white-house-turkeys-media-library.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet Drumstick and Wishbone, the White House Turkeys Vying for President Trump's 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=fa30f541-82dd-4153-92a0-95f478140233&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House [Watch (HLS stream): Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZsP0lxCC.m3u8) (0:52)  _Published 2017-11-20. Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House_  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 20, 2017 8:33 PM UTC Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 20, 2017 8:33 PM UTC Introducing Drumstick and Wishbone, the two poultry pals up for consideration for the [annual White House turkey pardon](http://nation.time.com/2013/11/26/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-presidential-turkey-pardons/). Since getting sent to Washington, D.C. for the occasion, the feathered friends have been receiving seriously luxe treatment, including a stay at the Willard InterContinental Hotel. (This is also tradition. Under President Barack Obama, [last year’s birds](http://time.com/4581643/president-obama-turkey-pardon-watch-live/) — Tater and Tot — also got the four-star accommodation at the InterContinental.) On Monday, the official White House Twitter account also shared pertinent details about the duo. They were both born in June. Wishbone is 36 pounds, while Drumstick clocks in at a meaty 47\. And they apparently have varying tastes in music, with preferences for country (Wishbone) and classic rock (Journey). Tradition dictates that one turkey [receives the photo opp](http://time.com/4581781/president-obama-thanksgiving-turkey-pardon/) at the Rose Garden and an official pardon from the president. However, both birds will be saved from the dinner table. That said, the White House has asked the internet for opinion on which of the turkey should be pardoned by President Donald Trump. The poll results are nearly neck-and-neck — as of Monday afternoon. Drumstick had a slim lead at 52%. After the pardon, both will be sent to Virginia Tech’s “Gobbler’s Rest” exhibit, where visitors can check out previous recipients of the honor enjoying their retirement in peace and off the table. This is the 70th year running that the National Turkey Federation has sent the president turkeys, but the tradition of sparing a turkey’s life was started by President George H.W. Bush 25 years ago. > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/932647732954537984) > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/932648144348868610) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] [ MUSIC ] [00:04] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/"},"headline":"Meet Drumstick and Wishbone, the White House Turkeys Vying for President Trump's Thanksgiving Pardon","datePublished":"2017-11-20T20:33:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:32:22.985Z","description":"Drumstick and Wishbone are getting the presidential treatment","url":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Donald Trump","Thanksgiving","trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1538ff6302e120/6988e67acf40a8cdc7c4a45e/white-house-turkeys-media-library.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1538ff6302e120/6988e67acf40a8cdc7c4a45e/white-house-turkeys-media-library.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Presidential Turkeys, Washington, USA - 20 Nov 2017","caption":"Trump Presidential Turkeys, Washington, USA - 20 Nov 2017","creditText":"AP/REX/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/","name":"Meet Drumstick and Wishbone, the White House Turkeys Vying for President Trump's Thanksgiving Pardon"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House","description":"Pardon Turkeys Arrive at the White House","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZsP0lxCC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-20T19:31:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZsP0lxCC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/","duration":"PT52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```