Trump takes McDonald's to campaign trail

Donald Trump has taken to the fast-food scene, spotlighting the iconic McDonald’s chain during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania in the final stretch of his third bid for the White House.

During a recent visit to Pennsylvania, the former president traded his suit jacket for an apron and worked as a fry cook at a local McDonald’s franchise, which was closed for the occasion. He also served food through the drive-thru window, claiming he prepared it himself and that the meal was on him, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

This fry cook role is similar to one that Vice President Kamala Harris has cited as part of her background, a detail she highlighted during her initial presidential campaign. It has become a key element of her narrative about her middle-class roots as the Democratic nominee. Trump, who has a well-known fondness for McDonald's, has fixated on Harris’s past employment there, frequently casting doubt on her claims without providing evidence. His latest visit to the restaurant appears to be another effort to challenge her work history. “I’m looking for a job,” Trump quipped to the McDonald’s owner in Feasterville-Trevose. “I’ve always wanted to work at McDonald’s, but I never did. I’m running against someone who claims she did, but it turns out to be a completely phony story.”

Harris has mostly ignored Trump's comments and the inquiries from his supporters and conservative media regarding her job history. Her campaign did not respond to requests for comment about Trump's allegations or his visit to McDonald’s. However, a campaign official stated that Harris worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during the summer of 1983 while still a student at Howard University, managing the register as well as the fry and ice cream machines. Earlier this year, on Drew Barrymore’s talk show, Harris recalled, “I did fries. And then I did the cashier.” During her 2019 presidential campaign, she also mentioned her McDonald’s experience while standing in solidarity with striking workers. 

Her time at McDonald’s has been referenced multiple times at this summer’s Democratic National Convention, where her allies contrasted her upbringing with Trump’s affluent background. Former President Bill Clinton humorously remarked that Harris might “break my record as the president who has spent the most time at McDonald’s.” Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett noted that “one candidate worked at McDonald’s” while “the other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” “Can you imagine Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s?” questioned Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. “He couldn’t run that damn McFlurry machine if his life depended on it.” Over the years, Trump has frequently questioned the backgrounds of his political opponents, often without justification.

He was a prominent figure in the discredited “birther” movement that falsely questioned Barack Obama’s citizenship, which ultimately led Obama to release his long-form birth certificate. During the 2016 Republican primary, Trump promoted an unfounded conspiracy theory suggesting that Sen. Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the current election cycle, he inaccurately claimed that his Republican rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, wasn’t a natural-born US citizen, and he also falsely asserted that Kamala Harris only recently acknowledged her Black heritage. 

Despite these accusations, Trump has embellished his own life story with numerous exaggerations and fabrications. He famously coined the term “truthful hyperbole” in his bestselling autobiography, "The Art of the Deal," an oxymoronic phrase that reflects his complicated relationship with the truth. He described it as “an innocent form of exaggeration” and “a very effective form of promotion.” In a 2007 deposition, Trump was found to have lied at least 30 times over two days, primarily about trivial matters related to his businesses, including workforce size and speaking fees. 

By Naila Huseynova