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Barack Obama pardons 'turkey', serves food to homeless this Thanksgiving

Barack Obama pardons 'turkey', serves food to homeless this Thanksgiving

By :  DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-11-26 04:08 GMT
Speaking at his annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning, US President Barack Obama joked about raising teenage daughters, his critics and the 2016 presidential race.
President Barack Obama serves Thanksgiving dinner during "Feast with Friends" at Friendship Place homeless center in Washington. Friendship Place works with homeless and at-risk veterans in its Veterans First program.
Obama, from left, Malia Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama serve Thanksgiving dinner during "Feast with Friends" at Friendship Place homeless center.
Following the ceremony, the first family will travel to a local shelter to serve what Obama called 'less fortunate turkey brothers' to homeless veterans.
Obama also used the occasion to roast his critics and the media. 'I've got to listen to my critics say I'm often too soft on turkeys,' Obama said. 'And I'm sure the press is digging into whether or not the turkeys I've pardoned have really re-
On Wednesday, both Sasha and Malia appeared with beaming smiles and chuckled at their father's jokes.
Last year, Sasha and Malia Obama were criticized on social media for not smiling during the ceremony. A Republican congressional staffer was fired after she posted on Facebook that the girls should show 'a little class.'
Obama was joined by his two teenage daughters, Sasha, 14, and Malia, 17. He joked they 'do this solely because it makes me feel good, not because they actually think that this is something I should be doing.'
The tradition of the US president pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving began in 1947 under President Harry Truman, the White House said.
The turkeys were raised by Dr. Jihad Douglas, whom Obama referred to as 'Dr. Douglas,' side-stepping the man's first name, which can refer to spreading Islam through violence. Obama referred to a second turkey farmer, Joe Hedden, by his first and
Obama pardoned two California-raised turkeys, named 'Honest' and 'Abe,' who will retire to a historic farm in Leesburg, Virginia, rather than end up on Americans' Thanksgiving tables.
Following a long pause and some laughter he added, 'some of you caught that.'
'As you may have heard, for months, there has been a fierce competition between a bunch of turkeys trying to win their way into the White House,' Obama said.
Barack Obama pardons 'turkey', serves food to homeless this Thanksgiving

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