WATCH: White House Spoofs Turkey Pardon

President Barack Obama
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Move over, BarneyCam!

The White House new media team had some fun with President Obama’s first official pardoning of a turkey for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In a video posted to the White House YouTube page, a “turkey” does the slow walk right through the gates outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, past “Pebble Beach” where reporters do stand-up television shots, through the West Wing and Oval Office into the Rose Garden.

The spoof is the brainchild of Arun Chaudhary, who traveled with Obama during the long primary and general election campaigns.

But Ben LaBolt from the White House press shop steals the show as narrator.

The bird will “be trotting a little prouder as he walks down these hallowed halls for his appointment with destiny,” LaBolt deadpans.

It’s all geared toward getting people to watch the pardoning live today on the White House Web site.

Today, “one turkey will be a free bird,” LaBolt said.

Watch it after the jump:

Late Update: A White House source tells TPMDC the turkey’s name is “Courage.”

Chaudhary tells us he wrote another script titled “Citizen Turkey” that was considered over-complicated. This version took him three hours from start to finish.

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