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 battling to win over voters in what is predicted to be an incredibly tight race. Ironically, McDonald’s operations have become a major talking point on the campaign trail for both candidates.
For years, Harris has talked about his experience working at McDonald’s while in college. Recently, Trump and his team, without evidence, suggested that Harris is lying.
Then on Sunday, Trump made an appearance at a McDonald’s in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, where he played a McDonald’s employee, wearing a restaurant apron and serving french fries to select customers.
“I have worked 15 minutes more than Kamala. He never worked here,” Trump said, continuing his unconfirmed claim.
“I don’t care about this job,” Trump later said. “I love this job. I would come back and do it again.”
During his faux pas, the former president dodged a question about the minimum wage. And since then, he has sold commemorative “MAGADonald’s” t-shirts.
Here’s what Trump’s disappointment, and working in the fast food industry, tells us about the presidential election.
Who really worked at McDonald’s?
Trump’s baseless claim that Harris did not work at McDonald’s is part of a larger pattern of behavior. Trump has been attacking Harris personally on the campaign trail for months. He has repeatedly and intentionally mispronounced her name, falsely accused her of “turning Black,” and most recently, repeated his insults that she is “mentally deranged.”
These jabs tend to focus on Harris as a person, rather than policy differences.
Harris is accused by Trump and other Republicans of lying about his time at the fast food restaurant because he did not include it in an application for a job as a law clerk in the Alameda County district attorney’s office in October 1987. Needless to say, Harris. he’s probably not the only person who would leave a summer job without a resume where those skills may not be transferable or relevant to the new role he’s looking for.
Since then, Harris’ team has detailed how the vice president worked at McDonald’s, serving fries and ice cream, while he was a sophomore at Howard University in the summer of 1983.
“When Trump feels desperate, what he knows how to do is lie. “He doesn’t understand what it’s like to have a summer job because he was given millions on a silver platter, and then he blew it,” said Ian Sams, a spokesman for the Harris campaign. The Washington Post.
Trump, meanwhile, appeared in a 2002 McDonald’s ad. And Trump’s love of McDonald’s food is well documented. During his $250 million fraud trial in Manhattan last year, several of McDonald’s bags were brought into court. A former Trump campaign official said his favorite order consisted of “two Big Macs, two Fillet-O-Fish and a dark chocolate. [shake].”
American culture and capitalism
Harris is not alone in working for McDonald’s. In fact, one in eight Americans has worked in a fast food market.
For many, the golden arches seen on 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 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 US federal wage is $7.25 and according to Talent.com, McDonald’s workers in Pennsylvania earn $11.25 an hour, on average. According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly pay for a McDonalds team member in Pennsylvania is close to $12.50.
Harris said he would raise the current minimum wage, which he described as “poverty wages.” And in a presidential campaign ad, Harris portrays himself as someone who understands the middle class. “He grew up in a middle-class home. She was the daughter of a working mother,” said a voiceover in one of her advertisements. “And he was working at McDonald’s while he was getting his degree.”
Low-wage workers have been hit hard by inflation and both candidates have made many promises to appeal to working-class voters. Harris wants to pass middle-class tax cuts, increase health care subsidies and the child tax credit, and provide assistance to first-time homebuyers. Trump wants to lower corporate taxes, introduce tariffs on consumer goods to spur US manufacturing growth, and cut overtime taxes. Both Harris and Trump support eliminating taxes on tips.
As the hotly contested presidential race continues, there is no doubt that both Harris and Trump will try to win votes until all the ballots are cast. The American people will have to decide for themselves whether they will be better off in the next four years with Harris or Trump in office. And this year, McDonald’s employees can play an important role in deciding who is the next President of the United States.
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