Former President Donald Trump is set to make an unconventional campaign stop this Sunday at a McDonald’s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sources familiar with the matter report that the GOP presidential nominee plans to “work the fry cooker” during his visit to the fast-food restaurant — a clever stunt that has Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign scrambling.
This unusual campaign event comes in the wake of Trump’s repeated challenges to Harris’s unproven claims about her past employment at McDonald’s. Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, has claimed she worked at the fast-food chain during her college years in the 1980s.
Trump has been vocal in his skepticism of Harris’s McDonald’s employment.
At a campaign rally in North Carolina in late September, he stated, “We don’t want to hear fake promises, even something like she worked very long and hard hours over french fries at McDonalds. She never worked at McDonald’s. It’s a fake story.”
The former president has been teasing this McDonald’s visit for weeks.
“I think I’m going to go to a McDonald’s next week someplace – it might not be here in your place. I’m going to go to a McDonald’s and I’m going to work the French fry job for about half an hour – I wanna see how it is,” he told a crowd at a recent Pennslyvania campaign rally.
TRUMP: "Do you know what I am doing next week? I AM GOING TO A MCDONALDS TO WORK!" pic.twitter.com/JpYqWWZrRI
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) October 12, 2024
Trump, known for his fondness for McDonald’s cuisine, has a history with the Golden Arches that extends beyond mere consumption. In 2019, he famously served McDonald’s to Clemson University athletes at the White House after their National Championship win, paying for the meal himself due to staff furloughs during a government shutdown.
The Harris campaign has doubled-down on the vice president’s employment claim. The campaign stated that Harris worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during the summer of 1983 as a student.
However, fact-checker Snopes has noted that there is no firm evidence, such as employment records or photos, to verify this claim.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung has repeatedly challenged the Harris campaign to provide documentation.
“Why won’t they just provide real documentation and proof? The onus is on them. What does she have to hide?” Cheung asked.
Trump’s planned visit to work behind the counter is seen as a clever dig that will bring further attention to the doubts about Harris’s claims while also connecting with working-class voters.
As Sunday approaches, all eyes will be on the Pennsylvania McDonald’s, where a former president will don an apron and step behind the counter.