Trump Becomes McDonald's Daily Employee: "Harris Has Never Worked"

With the U.S. presidential election just about two weeks away, former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, visited a McDonald's hamburger chain in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, on the 20th (local time).

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to foreign media including The New York Times (NYT), former President Trump visited a McDonald's store located in Pfisterville-Trevers, Bucks County, northern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that afternoon. Taking off his suit jacket and wearing an apron, Trump made French fries behind the counter and took orders directly at the drive-thru. He also said working at McDonald's was "a job I've wanted to do my whole life."

At the drive-thru window, he waved to thousands of people standing across the street. In response, one supporter shouted, "Trump 2024!"

The American hamburger chain McDonald's is a symbol of American working-class culture. It is inexpensive, and one in eight Americans has experienced McDonald's at some point in their life. The company said Trump requested to visit a McDonald's store for the same reason. The Washington Post (WP) reported that Trump has long been a fan of McDonald's and once filmed an advertisement for the fast-food chain.

Former President Trump, born with a "golden spoon" and possessing a fortune worth trillions of won, visiting McDonald's, an icon of American dining, is seen by U.S. media as an attempt to highlight himself as a genuine pro-working-class candidate, contrasting with his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris's past experience working at McDonald's.

Vice President Harris emphasized her working-class and middle-class credentials by mentioning in July, shortly after her debut, that she worked part-time at McDonald's during college. Trump has claimed without evidence that this was a lie. He has repeatedly insisted it was false.

On the same day, Trump posted on his social media, saying, "We checked with McDonald's, and they said there is no record of 'liar' Harris ever working there," adding, "She never worked there." He claimed, "If I stayed there (McDonald's) for 20 minutes, that means I worked there 20 minutes longer than Harris." Harris's camp rebutted this. Ian Sams, senior spokesperson for the Harris campaign, called it "a sign of desperation from a real estate mogul."

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris attended a worship service at a large Black church in Stonecrest, Georgia, the same day, appealing to Black voters, a core Democratic constituency, to vote.