U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned a turkey whom he said had lost a 'fair and open election' but 'refused to concede.
Voting in the 2020 U.S. Election may be over, but the misinformation keeps on ticking. Never stop fact-checking. Follow our post-election coverage here. The 'pardoning' of a live turkey by the President of the United States, thus sparing the bird from ending up as a family's holiday dinner, is an annual Thanksgiving tradition that began with U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1989. In 2018, in an eerie foreshadowing (or, some would cynically say, a telegraphing of strategy) of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned a turkey named Carrots who had lost 'a fair and open election' (i.e., a White House poll) over which of two turkeys should be spared. According to Trump, Carrots was the loser of the election but 'refused to concede and demanded a recount,' and even though 'the result did not change,' Trump mercifully granted a pardon to both Carrots and the winning turkey. USA Today contemporaneously described the 2018 version of the yearly White House holiday event as follows: Thanksgiving is for family, friends and food, but on Tuesday at the White House, it was for the birds. Two birds, specifically: Peas and Carrots, who received a kind of 'presidential pardon' from President Donald Trump on Tuesday in the Rose Garden. 'That turkey is so lucky. I've never seen such a beautiful turkey,' Trump said. Joined by first lady Melania, Trump said although both turkeys were being pardoned, Peas was declared the winner of a White House poll that asked Americans to pick which turkey should be pardoned. Trump deemed the contest a 'fair and open election.' 'Unfortunately, Carrots refused to concede and demanded a recount, and we're still fighting with Carrots,' he said. 'I will tell you we've come to a conclusion. Carrots, I'm sorry to tell you the result did not change.' 'Even though Peas and Carrots have received a presidential pardon, I have warned them that House Democrats are likely to issue them both subpoenas,' Trump concluded. Here's a video of that November 2018 event: FLASHBACK: In 2018, President Trump attacked Carrots the turkey for refusing to concede he had lost the vote on the White House turkey pardon contest. 'This was a fair election... unfortunately, Carrots refused to concede and demanded a recount.' pic.twitter.com/MzcackiDwd - andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) November 23, 
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