Former President Donald Trump served fries at a Philadelphia-area McDonald’s on Sunday, while oversalting the spuds and peppers in some of Vice President Kamala Harris’s pickles.
The campaign visit in the critical battleground state, just over two weeks after Election Day, was aimed at trolling Harris, who in her youth had talked about working at one of the fast-food chain’s restaurants. Without evidence, Trump has accused Harris of lying about the experience as a way to boost her credibility with the working class.
Trump repeated his baseless claims on Sunday.
“Working at McDonald’s was a big part of her resume — as hard as it was,” Trump said at the restaurant in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. “She…made the fries, and she talked about the heat, ‘It was so heavy.’ She never worked at McDonald’s.’
Harris spokesman Ian Sams fired back in a statement to NBC News.
“If Trump feels desperate, all he can 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 have it screwed up.”
According to her campaign, Harris worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, in the summer of 1983. She was a student at Howard University at the time and worked at the cash register as well as the chip and ice cream machines.
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 pizzas on silver platters to welcome and celebrate the national college football champion Clemson Tigers during their visit to the White House.
During his half-hour Sunday service, Trump exchanged his jacket for an apron and received a brief instruction from a fry cook. He then went to work on the deep fryer himself, dropping two batches of potatoes into hot oil and waiting for them to cook. He mostly followed instructions, although he forgot to completely drain the oil from one batch and seemed to be more generous with the salt.
Trump repeatedly marveled at the way the fries are packaged, using a scoop-like device.
“Never touched by 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 passed by in their cars.
“This is not a normal situation, is it?” he noted, before assuring customers they wouldn’t have to pay for their food and bragging that he made their fries himself.
“There will be no charge,” he said. “Trump is paying for it. … This is all about Trump, can I do that?”
Several customers shouted Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan as they came through the line.
“I wouldn’t mind this job,” Trump said. “I love this job. I would come back and do it again.”
The franchise was closed for normal business during Sunday’s visit and it was not immediately clear how the drive-thru customers served by Trump were selected. In a statement, the venue’s owner and operator, Derek Giacomantonio, said 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 all who visit the Feasterville community visits.”
Trump also served fries and answered questions from assembled reporters. He dodged the direct answer to the question of whether the federal minimum wage should be increased.
“Oh, you are very careful with the product,” he said to an employee who was filling bags of fries. ‘Look. She is a good worker. Those are the kind of people you want. She gave them one fries in front of thirty reporters.”
Near the end of his performance, Trump was told it was Harris’ 60th birthday.
“I think I’ll get her some flowers,” he said. “Maybe I’ll give her some fries.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
