John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, discusses the tradition of turkey pardoning by the president on Thanksgiving. He finds it strange that only one turkey is pardoned while millions are consumed. He suggests either pardoning all turkeys or putting them all on trial. He humorously challenges President Obama and future presidents to show up at a turkey pardoning with a cleaver.

Turkey pardoning is a weird tradition.
They're basically all guilty...of being delicious.

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I am John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight.

We're on hiatus at the moment, but, like a psychotic ex, we're still sending you videos from time to time to remind you What you're missing.

All of this you could be having right now.

Anyway, I think I just proved the opposite of my point.

And I'm here to discuss perhaps the strangest Thanksgiving tradition.

No, not sitting through a Detroit Lions game.

I'm talking, of course, about turkey pardoning.

Each year, the president pardons 1 turkey who then presumably moves to Mexico to live with Tim Robbins like they promised each other.

There is something profoundly strange about a president making a show of pardoning 1 turkey to mark a holiday on which everyone, the president included, consumes an estimated 46 million birds.

If we're going to pardon 1 turkey, we should pardon them all, or we should put them all on trial.

Which would admittedly be a little difficult, because getting a jury of their peers is nearly impossible.

But they do not and will not respond to summonses.

And also, more importantly, it will be an open-shut case, because let's be honest here, Every single turkey is guilty.

Specifically, guilty of having delicious bird parts that should be serving time in the prison of my mouth.

In fact, I issue this challenge to President Obama and all future presidents.

If you want the world to respect you, Just once, show up at a White House turkey pardoning with a cleaver and administer the justice these birds so clearly deserve.


Speaker 0: -♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ Hello there, YouTube. I am John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight. We're on hiatus at the moment, but, like a psychotic ex, we're still sending you videos from time to time to remind you What you're missing. You could be having all this right now. All this.

All of this you could be having right now. Look at this. All this goodness. This is for you. Look at this.

Anyway, anyway. Anyway, I think I just proved the opposite of my point. But the point is, it's Thanksgiving. And I'm here to discuss perhaps the strangest Thanksgiving tradition. No, not sitting through a Detroit Lions game.

I'm talking, of course, about turkey pardoning. Each year, the president pardons 1 turkey who then presumably moves to Mexico to live with Tim Robbins like they promised each other. But... But there is... There is something profoundly strange about a president making a show of pardoning 1 turkey to mark a holiday on which everyone, the president included, consumes an estimated 46 million birds.

That the whole thing is so strange. If we're going to pardon 1 turkey, we should pardon them all, or we should put them all on trial. Which would... Which would admittedly be a little difficult, because getting a jury of their peers is nearly impossible. But they do not and will not respond to summonses.

And also, more importantly, it will be an open-shut case, because let's be honest here, Every single turkey is guilty. Specifically, guilty of having delicious bird parts that should be serving time in the prison of my mouth. In fact, I issue this challenge to President Obama and all future presidents. If you want the world to respect you, Just once, show up at a White House turkey pardoning with a cleaver and administer the justice these birds so clearly deserve. We'll be back in February.

Happy Thanksgiving! Death to turkeys! Death to turkeys! Death! You

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Turkey Pardoning (Web Exclusive): Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)