Governor Gretchen Whitmer pardoned the third turkey of her time in office Thursday ahead of Thanksgiving.
It was a gray day on the front lawn of the Michigan Capitol building when a tablecloth covering the day’s guest of honor was removed from her cage.
She couldn’t talk and it’s unclear if she knew what was happening.
But one could assume the large white domestic turkey named “Aidan Cluckinson”—in a nod to Detroit Lions star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson—was probably happy to receive the governor’s pardon.
As custom, Whitmer gave a pun-laden speech ahead of the honors.
“As we know, the tur-KEY to our success is teamwork. There are no foes or fowls. Just future friends. Our responsibility as Michiganders is to roll up our sleeves, tuck in our wings, and get down to gizzness to get things done.”
Whitmer says she’s thankful for her family, pets and the Detroit Lions this Thanksgiving.
Whitmer is not showing her hand when it comes to whether she plans to pursue minimum wage legislation before the end of the year.
The minimum wage is set to increase to around $12 an hour for both non-tipped and tipped workers in a few months.
That worries restaurant and hospitality business groups which have claimed disaster could come if they’re forced to pay their tipped workers that full amount.
Whitmer says there’s not much to add as far as negotiations go with legislative leadership.
"I just said that yesterday, and I haven’t talked to them since then, so I don’t have any update."
Currently, business owners only have to pay their tipped workers the full minimum wage if their tips don’t cover the difference.
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