Today in Obama: Turkey With a Side of Dad Jokes

In which we reflect on simpler times.

If you wanted a side of nostalgia on your Thanksgiving plate, we at The Root are here to serve.

Let’s go back to 2015—when the first family served Thanksgiving meals to homeless and at-risk veterans in Washington, D.C. If this picture looks familiar, it may be because the photo made the rounds after Hurricane Harvey barreled through Texas, with captions falsely claiming that President Barack Obama was serving meals to Houstonians hit by the storm.

As The Root’s senior editor, Stephen Crockett, noted, the claim was propelled this summer by the contrast it offered to Donald Trump’s soggy-ass response to helping people in need—and just being around other people in general, writing:

The Obama administration, which is akin to a loving grandmother, and the Trump administration, which is akin to the uncle who stays in the grandmother’s basement and has his plate left outside the basement door because he doesn’t come upstairs.

Obama also made a tradition of corny dad jokes during the annual turkey pardon—puns that elicited a steady stream of hilarious reactions from first daughters Sasha and Malia.

See Exhibit Y ARE YOU GONE, from Obama’s last (and arguably greatest) turkey pardon. Careful, lest you season your mashed potatoes with all these damn tears.

If you want a rundown of Obama’s best and hokiest one-liners, NPR has got you covered.

Now if you could please pass the Kleenex.