FEASTERVILLE, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump served up french fries Sunday at a Philadelphia-area McDonald’s, oversalting spuds and peppering in some jabs at Vice President Kamala Harris.
The franchise in Feasterville was closed for normal business during Sunday’s photo op. The customers who went through the drive thru were pre-selected by the franchise and the local Trump campaign team, according to a person familiar with the event. The cars were also screened and searched, and the people in them were wanded down, according to the source.
The campaign visit in the critical battleground state just over two weeks from Election Day was designed to troll Harris, who has talked about working at one of the fast-food chain’s restaurants when she was younger. Without evidence, Trump has accused Harris of lying about the experience as a way to improve her working-class credibility.
Trump repeated his unsubstantiated claims Sunday.
“It was a big part of her resume that she worked at McDonald’s — how tough a job it was,” Trump said at the restaurant in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. “She … made the french fries, and she talked about the heat: ‘It was so tough.’ She’s never worked at McDonald’s.”
Harris spokesperson Ian Sams shot back in a statement to NBC News.
“When Trump feels desperate, all he knows how to do is lie,” Sams said. “He can’t understand what it’s like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it.”
Harris, according to her campaign, worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during the summer of 1983. She was a student at Howard University at the time and worked the register, as well as the french fry and ice cream machines.
In a statement, the location’s owner and operator, Derek Giacomantonio, said that he decided to participate in the Trump campaign event because “it is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community.”
Trump’s own love of fast food is well documented. During a government shutdown in 2019, he famously served McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Domino’s pizza on silver platters to welcome and celebrate the national college football champion Clemson Tigers during their White House visit.
During his half-hour shift Sunday, Trump traded his suit jacket for an apron and received a brief tutorial from a fry cook. He then took a turn at the deep fryer himself, dropping two batches of potatoes into hot oil and waiting for them to cook. He mostly followed instructions, though he forgot to fully drain the oil from one batch and appeared to be more generous with the salt.
Trump marveled repeatedly about how the fries are packaged, with the aid of a scooper-like device.
“Never touched by a human hand,” he said at one point. “Nice and clean.”
Trump then turned his attention to the drive-thru window, filling several orders and chatting with customers as they came by in their cars.
“This is not a normal situation, is it?” he remarked, before assuring customers they would not have to pay for their food and bragging that he had made their fries himself.
“There will be no charge,” he said. “Trump is paying for it. … This is all on Trump, am I allowed to do that?”
Several customers called out Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan as they came through the line.
“I wouldn’t mind this job,” Trump said. “I like this job. I would come back and do it again.”
Trump also served up fries to and took questions from gathered reporters. He dodged directly answering whether the federal minimum wage should be raised.
“Oh, you’re very stingy with the product,” he said to an employee filling bags with fries. “Look at that. She’s a good worker. That’s the kind of people you want to have. She gave them one french fry for 30 reporters.”
Toward the end of his appearance, Trump was informed it was Harris’ 60th birthday.
“I think I’ll get her some flowers,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get her some fries.”
Henry Gomez reported from Cleveland, Ohio; Jake Traylor reported from Feasterville, Pennsylvania.
