‘Keep calm and gobble on,’ Biden tells last turkey pardoning

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden had a message for Americans at his final Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony on Monday before Donald Trump returns to the White House -- “keep calm and gobble on.”

The outgoing president, 82, spared birds Peach and Blossom from ending up on the dinner table in a time-honoured tradition marking the upcoming US holiday. In a series of quips to a large crowd on the South Lawn, Biden remarked that Peach “lives by the motto ´keep calm and gobble on´” -- while Blossom´s philosophy was “no fowl play.”

He added that during their trip to Washington from the Minnesota farm where they were raised, the two feathered beasts “stayed calm and they gobbled on, and they´re still gobbling.” But the Democrat´s words -- through which the turkeys did indeed repeatedly make gobbling noises -- also struck a poignant note as he prepares to leave the White House on January 20.

Biden said he wanted to close his remarks on a “more serious note,” pointing out that it was “my last time to speak here as your president during this season.” “Let me say to you, it´s been the honor of my life, I´m forever grateful,” said Biden, who dropped out of the election in July after a disastrous television debate against Trump. As he nears the end of his single term in office, Biden´s attention will soon turn to the human pardons that US presidents usually give before departing the Oval Office.