This is the way the Biden world ends. Not with a bang, but with a gulp.

Joe Biden, 82, once the defender of democracy and savior of the American soul, is about to trade in the nuclear codes for golf clubs and beach chairs. Power is as fickle as fame.

But on a crisp, sunny Monday, he scored one last victory over longtime rival Donald Trump by drawing arguably the largest crowd ever seen at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon. And he knows how obsessed Trump is with audience size.

“They tell me there are 2,500 people here today,” Biden said, standing at the presidential lectern on the south lawn and jokingly saying, “looking for a pardon.”

He laughed and so did the audience. When a somber Trump hosted this event at the end of his own presidency in 2020, questions were shouted like “Mr. President, will you pardon yourself?” Biden has ruled out a last-minute pardon for his son Hunter, convicted on federal gun charges.

But a troublemaker with a dark sense of humor might have named this year’s turkeys Nancy and Barack, after the two Democrats who precipitated the president’s exit from the race after his disastrous TV debate against Trump.

Instead, the two white-plumed birds raised in Minnesota were named Peach and Blossom, named after the official state flower of Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Wearing his signature aviator sunglasses, Biden, marking his final holiday stint in the White House, couldn’t resist remarking, “And by the way, Delaware has a long history of growing peaches.” In fact, our state’s peach pie is one of my favorites. It’s a state dessert!”

He added: “Peach blossom also symbolizes resilience, which is honestly appropriate for today.”

It was ostensibly a comment on the turkeys’ ingenuity in avoiding the Thanksgiving dinner table. Some may also have discovered the poignant admission that, even Biden spoke turkey, a man labeled a fascist by his allies, is preparing at Mar-a-Lago to hammer America’s democratic institutions again.

George HW Bush made it an annual tradition to formally pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, although stories of the birds being spared from the dinner table date back to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Biden recalled that he has continued the tradition over the past four years by pardoning Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chocolate and Chip and Liberty and Bell. “And today Peach and Blossom will join the free birds of the United States of America.”

As he continued, you heard Peach startle. “Yes, I hear you,” Biden said, as the crowd laughed. “Peach just wants to say something here.”

Peach weighs 21 kg, likes to eat hot dishes with a topping, enjoys cross-country skiing, dreams of seeing the Northern Lights and lives by the motto: “Keep calm and gobble away,” the president joked. Blossom weighs 40 pounds, enjoys eating cheese curds and watching boxing, dreams of visiting each of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes and lives by the motto: “No poultry, just Minnesota fun.”

The turkeys traveled more than 1,100 miles in 16.5 hours while listening to their favorite music, including the song Living on a Prayer. Biden added: “Well guys, your prayers are being answered today. Based on your temperament and commitment to being productive members of society, I hereby forgive Peach and Blossom.”

And so the lame duck pardoned the turkeys.

As usual, Biden then promised to end on a more serious note. He acknowledged that this would be the last time he speaks here as president this season. “So let me say to you, it has been the honor of my life. I am eternally grateful to you.”

There were characteristic reflections on those who have lost loved ones, the importance of family and how America is the greatest country in the world. “And that’s not an exaggeration,” he added, as if anticipating dissenters. “We are.

“No matter what happens, in America we never give up. We keep going. We keep the faith. We just have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America. There is nothing, nothing, nothing that is beyond our ability if we do it together.”

It’s a phrase Biden often uses at the end of his speeches. But on Monday it sounded like a plea from a man whose legacy is in jeopardy. With Trump’s promises of mass deportations, abolishing the federal bureaucracy and “America first” isolationism, a presidency that once seemed so consistent is in danger of quickly fading.

Despite the large crowd, Biden’s farewell to Turkey felt more muted than that of Barack Obama who, despite the knowledge that Trump was looming, managed to continue firing cheerfully at “a corny copy of dad jokes about turkeys.” Obama seemed demob-happy that day; Biden as a man in denial.

Peach and Blossom are now headed to an agricultural center in Minnesota to help promote the state and educate future farmers. Biden, riding off into a sunset himself, may find that retirement brings much less peace.