Donald Trump showed up for his quick shift at McDonald’s in Feasterville on Sunday, ready to take orders at the drive-thru and continue his claims that Kamala Harris “lied” about her college work at the fast food chain.
“I’ve now worked at McDonald’s 15 minutes longer than Kamala Harris,” Trump said, as reporters shouted questions, as he worked the window at the restaurant in his apron.
With just over two weeks to Election Day, and Pennsylvania still hotly contested as possibly the swing state needed to capture the White House, Trump came to Bucks County to become what he would say is the only candidate to work at a McDonald’s and woo undecided voters in hopes of securing the state’s critical 19 electoral votes.
Trump’s visit was prompted by a claim by the vice president, who has said she had worked at a McDonald’s in the 1980s. Trump said he doesn’t believe it, and agreed to “work the fries” at a McDonald’s. Trump, the Republican, and Harris, the Democrat, are locked in a tight race in Pennsylvania. Both are barnstorming the state in the waning days of the campaign ahead of Nov. 5, and while Pennsylvania voters are already returning mail-in ballots.
The event, arguably the most unique campaign stop in Bucks County in decades, brought out crowds, tight security and had the national media watching.
Trump handed McDonald’s McNuggets, burgers and fries in signature brand brown bags to customers, all pre-selected and pre-screened, in maybe a half-dozen cars. “What a beautiful family,” he said to the first car full.
Trump even took time to wish Harris a happy birthday.
Trump could be seen on national news networks wearing an apron and learning how to make fries from an employee. He talked about tonight’s Steelers game and asked about how to “shake” the grease off the fries, according to Fox News live coverage.
When asked about what he loves about McDonald’s, Trump said, “I love it all,” as he donned the apron.
He would make his way to the drive-thru at the Lower Southampton restaurant and serve customers, and a few Philadelphia TV reporters.
Supporters of Trump and Harris come out to McDonald’s campaign stop
The unconventional campaign stop brought out thousands of supporters of the former president and a smaller group of Harris supporters, who carried signs and stood nearby the McDonald’s.
As with other Trump events, it was a party atmosphere. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. Signs and flags were everywhere, including “Cats for Trump.”
It was also loud, with chants of “USA, USA” amid breaks for what might be described as Trump’s Greatest Hits playlist, including “I’m Proud to be an America” and the Village People’s “YMCA.” Supporters danced and bounced. Passing cars rigged with freight train horns blasted the crowd, which whooped and cheered and applauded.
Among the Trump crowd, who were cheering and chanting the candidate’s name, was a man who identifed himself as “The Man.” He wore Speedos and a Trump mask. “I’m walking around in Speedos because Trump is going to save this country. This is a pivotal election. I’m drawing attention to the naked need to get all the illegals out,” The Man said.
John and Kate Devlin of Huntington Valley said they came just to get a glimpse of Trump. “It’s really a chance for our kids to see history,” Kate Devlin said.
John Devlin said he moved his barber shop from Northeast Philadelphia to Montgomery County because of crime.“There was a shooting in front of my shop. This country needs better policing on crime,” he said.
Families were everywhere Sunday, along with small business owners but mostly the crowd was filled working people who want the economy fixed. “I believe Donald uTrmp holds the future for us,” said Luba Kaun, of Holland. She was with her son, Donald Julian, 3.
“He has the same name — Donald J,” she said.
At the McDonalds, customers chosen to be served by Trump waited in line at the drive thru well before the former president arrived Sunday afternoon. The first car, a black Jeep Wrangler driven by a man who identified himself as Jim from Bucks County, said his order would be fries and McNuggets.
Security was tight, with sniper teams on top of the McDonald’s and atop Guy’s Bicycles next door. K-9 dogs patrolled all over, local police wore military green SWAT gear, and everywhere you turned there was a secret service agent.
Why was Donald Trump at a McDonald’s in Bucks County today?
In interviews since at least 2019, Harris has said she worked at a McDonald’s while in college in the 1980s.
“I did fries and then I did the cashier,” she told an interviewer earlier this year. Asked what she’d order at McDonald’s at a drive-through, she said, “Probably the Quarter Pounder with cheese and fries,” she said.
Trump, who got mileage out of his debunked claim that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. but in Kenya, jumped on the lighthearted moment, claiming it, too, is false. In a post on Truth Social, he said:
“McDONALD’s CORPORATE has come forth and said they have no record whatsoever of KAMALA HARRIS ever working at any of their locations,” reads text in the post. “TRUTH – WHEN EVEN McDONALD’S WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, IT’S TIME TO THROW IN THE TOWEL!”
He doubled down on his claims Friday on the campaign trail, telling Detroit voters Harries “lied about working at McDonald’s … That’s like not a big thing, but can I be honest with you, it’s terrible.”
Buh-bye birtherism Trump finally says Obama born in U.S., blames Clinton for controversy
Harris said she worked there as a student at Howard University some 40 years ago.
“Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald’s is because there are people who work at McDonald’s in our country who are trying to raise a family,” Harris said in an interview in September.
McDonald’s has stayed out of it, and has not confirmed whether the vice president was employed by the fast food chain. But Trump said his campaign sent campaign staff to the store, and there have been no current or former employees to say they had worked with Harris at any of the company’s stores.
The corporation estimates that one of every eight Americans has worked for the company.
Jim Worthington, a Trump supporter and owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, said he arranged the McDonald’s visit through franchise owner and friend Derek Giacomantonio, who declined to chat, and a spokesman said all communication had to be approved by corporate in Chicago.
However, a source pointed to a McDonalds executive on site, who declined to answer when a reporter for this news organization asked him if Kamala Harris had ever worked for the company. In a statement distributed to the press on Sunday, McDonald’s said, “As a brand, McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President. We are not red or blue — we are golden.”
Trump and Harris are in a battle for Pennsylvania in the presidential race, which could turn on white working-class voters, people who tend to be familiar with minimum or lower-paying wage jobs such as McDonald’s.
Swing state PA brings candidates to Bucks County
Sunday’s appearance in Bucks County was the second in the Philadelphia area since last Monday.
In Oaks, in Montgomery County, Trump stopped taking questions at a town hall event after a pair of medical emergencies in the crowd, instead dancing and playing music for 39 minutes as supporters trickled out, USA Today reported.
Harris held an event in Washington Crossing Historic Park in Bucks on Thursday urging “country over party,” appearing with more thna 100 Republicans.
Bucks County is the narrowest of the swing counties in southeastern Pennsylvania and, apart from Luzerne County, has the smallest divide between Republicans and Democrats as a percent of total voters. Pennsylvania is critical to the 2024 election with its 19 electoral votes.
Out of 486,740 voters in Bucks County, Republicans make up about 41.6% of voters while Democrats make up about 41% of voters. Democrats lost their voter advantage over the GOP for the first time in at least a decade in July. Luzerne County has Republicans leading by just 0.46%.
While Trump hasn’t managed to win Bucks County in either of the last two presidential elections — Clinton took the county 48.7 to 47.6 and Biden won with a four-point lead at 51% of the vote — he does have a strong following of supporters.
This story will be updating as it is ongoing.
JD Mullane can be reached at jmullane@couriertimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Donald Trump works McDonald’s drive-thru in swing state PA
