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Thursday, Nov 22, 2012 2:30 PM UTC

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 VIDEO

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Topics: Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, Video, Nate Silver, Nate Silver joke, Obama Romney joke,

Did Obama make Romney joke while pardoning turkeys?President Barack Obama, with daughters Sasha, center, and Malia, right, carries on the Thanksgiving tradition of saving a turkey from the dinner table with a "presidential pardon," at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. After the ceremony, "Cobbler" will head to George Washington's historic home in Virginia to be part of the "Christmas at Mount Vernon" exhibition. National Turkey Federation Chairman Steve Willardsen is at left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(Credit: AP)

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?

David Daley is the executive editor of Salon. More David Daley.

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