WASHINGTON ‒ Presidential turkey pardons are typically light-hearted holiday affairs with lots of fowl puns before Thanksgiving.

But President Donald Trump took his Nov. 25 pardons of Gobble and Waddle in a different direction as he used remarks in the White House Rose Garden to target two of his Democratic adversaries: former President Joe Biden and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"The mayor is incompetent and the governor is a big fat slob," Trump said as he blasted state and local opposition to Trump's efforts to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. "He ought to invite us in and say, 'Please make Chicago safe.'"

Trump later teased that he originally had a "Pritzker joke" in his prepared remarks, but opted not to leave it out because he gets so angry when he talks about the governor.

"I'm not going to tell my Pritzker joke," Trump said. "I have a very cute little joke. Some speechwriter wrote some joke about his weight. I would never want to talk about his weight. I don't talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he's a fat slob. I don't mention it."

The president added: "I'd like to lose a few pounds, too, by the way."

The Trump administration sent National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon and Chicago last month as part of his national crackdown on illegal immigration and crime in Democratic-led cities. However, the Pentagon withdrew troops last week as pending lawsuits challenge their deployment.

In his turkey-pardon remarks, Trump said Chicago can be like Washington DC as he hailed efforts to deploy the National Guard in the nation's capital to bring down crime. The president then made a categorically false claim that Washington DC has gone from having one or two homicides a week to no murders in six months.

Homicides are down 29% in 2025 from 2024, according to Metropolitan Police Department in DC, but there have still been 123 murders this year. Just last week, the DC police announced an investigation into a shooting death that occurred Nov. 19.

Trump says he re-pardoned Biden's turkeys because of autopen

Trump opened his speech with a jab at "a man named sleepy Joe Biden." Trump said he has determined Biden's pardons of turkeys Peach and Blossom last year are "totally invalid" because of Biden's use of the autopen.

"As are the pardons of about every other person that was pardoned other than ‒ where's Hunter?" Trump said. Republicans have argued Biden's pardons should be thrown out because the former president used a signature device to sign off on clemency papers.

Trump said he re-pardoned the Biden turkeys to stop the birds from being killed and eaten on Thanksgiving. "We saved them in the nick of time," Trump said.

This year’s turkey pardons marked the 78th year of the tradition, which has continued through 15 successive administrations.

Trump used his remarks to also tout achievements from his first year back in office, including efforts to end several international conflicts. He also claimed his administration is "making incredible strides to make America affordable again," as Americans continue to express anxiety about inflation and the economy.

Regarding the two 50-pound turkeys pardoned this year, Gobble and Waddle, Trump said he thought about naming them after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"I was going to call them Chuck and Nancy," the president said. "But then I realized I wouldn't be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people. I wouldn't pardon them. I wouldn't care what Melania told me. 'Darling, I think it would be a nice thing to do.'"

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump uses turkey pardons to hit Biden, 'big fat slob' JB Pritzker

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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