(Cupventi.com) – In the closing days of his third run for the White House, former President Donald Trump has turned his attention to one of America’s most iconic brands – McDonald’s. On Sunday, Trump visited a McDonald’s franchise in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, donning an apron and stepping behind the counter as a fry cook and drive-thru attendant. His visit was more than just a campaign stop; it was a pointed challenge to Vice President Kamala Harris’ claim that she once worked at McDonald’s as a young woman, a story she has used to emphasize her middle-class roots.
Trump, known for his fondness for fast food, used the visit as a platform to publicly question the validity of Harris’ work history. During his visit, Trump interacted with customers, handed out food, and joked about Harris’ past employment. “I’m looking for a job,” Trump quipped to the restaurant owner. “I’ve always wanted to work at McDonald’s, but I never did. I’m running against someone who said she did, but it turned out to be a totally phony story.”
Harris, who previously revealed her McDonald’s experience during her 2019 presidential campaign, stated that she worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during the summer of 1983 while attending Howard University. According to Harris’ campaign, she worked the register, fry station, and ice cream machine. Her personal connection to fast food has become part of her pitch to voters, emphasizing her working-class background and values.
The narrative surrounding Harris’ experience at McDonald’s has played a key role in contrasting her life with that of Trump’s. Throughout her campaign, Harris’ allies have pointed to her time working at McDonald’s as evidence of her relatable, working-class roots. The contrast was further highlighted at the Democratic National Convention, where speakers noted her fast-food job to draw a distinction between Harris’ humble beginnings and Trump’s privileged upbringing. Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, for instance, stated, “One candidate worked at McDonald’s, while the other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
Despite Harris’ use of the story to highlight her upbringing, Trump has frequently expressed doubts about her claims. He has accused Harris of fabricating her experience, labeling it as just another example of what he considers falsehoods by his political opponents. Trump’s visit to the Pennsylvania McDonald’s marked his latest attempt to undermine Harris’ biography.
On Drew Barrymore’s talk show earlier this year, Harris reiterated her experience, recalling that she “did fries” before moving on to the cashier position. In 2019, she also joined striking McDonald’s workers on a picket line, pointing out that she once worked for the same company. The story has become a staple in Harris’ narrative, aimed at highlighting her connection to ordinary Americans.
While Trump’s public questioning of Harris’ employment record has made headlines, it is not the first time he has cast doubt on his rivals’ personal stories. During his political career, Trump has repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories and made unfounded accusations against his opponents. In the 2016 presidential election, he propagated the debunked “birther” conspiracy that falsely questioned Barack Obama’s citizenship, and he also suggested that Senator Ted Cruz’s father might have been linked to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. More recently, Trump falsely claimed that Harris has only recently embraced her Black heritage.
Even as he calls out others for exaggerating their life stories, Trump himself has a long history of embellishing his own biography. In his best-selling book, “The Art of the Deal,” Trump coined the term “truthful hyperbole” to describe his use of exaggeration as a promotional tool. Trump has often used this tactic to his advantage, both in his business dealings and in politics. In a 2007 deposition, Trump was caught misrepresenting facts about his businesses multiple times. More famously, Trump has made unverified claims about being at Ground Zero immediately after the September 11 attacks, and he has been reported to have impersonated a company executive named “John Barron” to boost his public image.
Trump’s relationship with McDonald’s, however, is genuine and well-documented. He has openly expressed his love for the chain’s menu items, often citing their quality control as a reason for his preference. “You’re better off going there than someplace you have no idea where the food is coming from,” he said during a CNN town hall in 2016. When hosting Clemson University’s national championship football team at the White House, Trump famously served them a spread of fast food, including burgers from McDonald’s. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, even noted in his autobiography that Trump’s request for his favorite McDonald’s meal signaled his recovery from COVID-19.
Despite the public spectacle, it remains unclear why Trump has so fixated on Harris’ employment at McDonald’s. He has suggested that it is a significant lie that deserves scrutiny, despite the fact that no evidence has surfaced to disprove Harris’ account. “We would say, well, that’s not a big lie. It’s a huge lie,” Trump said in a recent interview. “Because McDonald’s was part of her whole thing.”
This isn’t Trump’s first McDonald’s stop on the campaign trail. Earlier in his campaign, he visited another franchise in East Palestine, Ohio, following a train derailment that resulted in an environmental crisis. At that visit, he joked with an employee at the register, “I know this menu better than you do. I probably know it better than anybody in here.” Trump’s campaign appearances at McDonald’s serve a dual purpose: they emphasize his relatability as a fast-food loving “average guy” and allow him to make a show of challenging Harris’ credibility.
Whether or not Trump’s efforts to challenge Harris’ background will sway voters is yet to be seen. With Election Day fast approaching, both candidates are doubling down on their messages in a bid to sway undecided voters. For Trump, the visit to McDonald’s represents an attempt to connect with working-class voters while also undermining Harris’ narrative – a tactic that has been a hallmark of his political career.