With early voting underway in many states, and less than two weeks until the presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are fighting to win over voters in what is predicted to be an incredibly tight race. Surprisingly, working at McDonald’s has become a key talking point on the campaign trail for both candidates.
For years, Harris has spoken about her experience working at McDonald’s while in college. Recently, Trump and his team has, without evidence, suggested that Harris is lying.
Then on Sunday, Trump staged an appearance at a McDonald’s in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, where he cosplayed as a McDonald’s worker, wearing the restaurant’s apron and handing french fries to preselected customers.
“I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala. She never worked here,” Trump exclaimed, continuing his unproven claim.
“I wouldn’t mind this job,” Trump later said. “I like this job. I would come back and do it again.”
During his fake shift, the former president dodged a question about the minimum wage. And since, he has sold commemorative “MAGADonald’s” T-shirts.
Here’s what Trump’s stunt, and working in the fast food industry, tells us about the presidential election.
Who actually worked at McDonald’s?
Trump’s unfounded claim that Harris hasn’t worked at McDonald’s is part of a larger pattern of behavior. For months, Trump has personally attacked Harris on the campaign trail. He has repeatedly and intentionally mispronounced her name, falsely accused her of “turning Black,” and most recently, repeated his insult that she is “mentally impaired.”
These jabs are often focused on Harris as a person, rather than on policy differences.
Harris has been accused by Trump and other Republicans of lying about her time at the fast food chain because she did not include it on a job application for a law clerk position in the Alameda County district attorney’s office in October 1987. Needless to say, Harris is likely not the only person to leave a summer job off their résumé when those skills may not be as transferable or relevant to the new role they are seeking.
Since then, Harris’s team has detailed how the vice president worked at McDonald’s, serving french fries and ice cream, when she was a rising sophomore at Howard University in the summer of 1983.
“When Trump feels desperate, all he knows how to do is lie. 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,” Ian Sams, a Harris campaign spokesperson, told The Washington Post.
Trump, for his part, did appear in a 2002 McDonald’s ad. And Trump’s love of McDonald’s food is well-documented. During his $250 million civil fraud trial in Manhattan last year, several bags of McDonald’s were brought into court. Former Trump campaign officials have said that his favorite order consists of “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted [shake].”
American culture and capitalism
Harris is not alone in having worked at McDonald’s. In fact, one in eight Americans have worked at the fast food chain.
For many, the golden arches seen from highways across the country represent American culture and capitalism. They also serve as a powerful symbol of the service economy and the working class. Both candidates are actively courting low-wage workers in key battleground states.
When Trump was asked by reporters if he would support raising the minimum wage, he did not answer the question. The U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 and according to Talent.com, McDonald’s workers in Pennsylvania earn $11.25 per hour, on average. According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly pay for a McDonalds crew member at in Pennsylvania is closer to $12.50.
Harris has said she would raise the current federal minimum wage, which she describes as “poverty wages.” And in a presidential campaign ad, Harris presents herself as someone who understands the middle class. “She grew up in a middle-class home. She was the daughter of a working mom,” a voiceover in one of her ads says. “And she worked at McDonald’s while she got her degree.”
Low-wage workers are disproportionately impacted by inflation and both candidates have made a number of pledges to appeal to working class voters. Harris wants to pass a middle class tax cut, increase healthcare subsidies and the child tax credit, and offer assistance for first-time homebuyers. Trump wants to lower corporate taxes, introduce tariffs on imports to drive U.S. manufacturing growth, and cut taxes on overtime pay. Both Harris and Trump support eliminating taxes on tips.
As the highly contested presidential race continues, there is no doubt that both Harris and Trump will try to win votes until all ballots are cast. Americans will have to decide for themselves if they will be better off for the next four years in a Harris or Trump presidency. And this year, McDonald’s workers could play a key role in deciding who the next President of the United States will be.