Did Obama make Romney joke while pardoning turkeys?

The president got laugh out of a line about Nate Silver. But he might have also taken a shot at his old opponent

By David Daley

Contributing Writer

Published November 22, 2012 2:30PM (EST)

We know that President Obama cracked a joke about Nate Silver during the White House turkey pardoning ceremony yesterday.

For the first time, Americans voted on which turkeys would receive the presidential pardon and live out their lives on George Washington's Mount Vernon. The turkeys Cobbler and Gobbler won, allowing Obama to crack: “Once again, Nate Silver completely nailed it,” Obama said. “The guy’s amazing. He predicted these guys would win.”

Silver, of course, is the New York Times statistical genius who once again predicted the results of the presidential campaign in all 50 states.

But did Obama also make a lesser-noticed joke about his opponent in that race, Mitt Romney?

Romney dismissed Obama's win on a post-election call with big donors as a result of the president distributing "gifts" to special interests and minority groups.

Obama on Wednesday opened his comments on the pardon by calling them a gift. "In the spirit of the season," the president said, "I have one more gift to give."

So was it the first gift of the holiday season, or the last gift of the election season?


By David Daley

David Daley is the author of the new book "Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections" and the national bestseller "Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count." He is the former editor-in-chief of Salon.

MORE FROM David Daley


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