Former President Donald Trump made good on his promise to work a shift at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s Sunday, dropping fries into an oil fryer and handing Secret Service-screened customers their orders through a drive-through window in perhaps the most bizarre publicity stunt of the 2024 election cycle.
“What is the logic behind this?” asked MSNBC host Alex Witt, as footage of Trump at a franchise in Feasterville-Trevose, north of Philadelphia, was played. “I mean we know the guy likes Big Macs and Filet-O-Fish, but what’s this about?”
“There’s no logic to it, it’s a stunt,” said her guest, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). “He, as you know, appears to be not well and he’s engaged in some really bizarre activities during this campaign.”
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To Lee’s point, a day before his McDonald’s publicity stunt, Trump spent the first part of a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, talking about the late golf legend Arnold Palmer’s penis.
CNN aired footage of an employee kindly taking Trump through the steps to drop and cook an order of McDonald’s french fries. The Republican nominee for president wore what appeared to be a company-issued black apron with gold yellow straps, while his white collared shirt, red hair and red tie rounded out a suite of brand friendly colors.
“Just a bit of stunning video right there to kick off the day,” said CNN reporter Danny Freeman, after clips of Trump dropping fries and working the drive-thru aired.
As for the tortured logic of the stunt, Trump has, without any evidence, repeatedly accused Vice President Kamala Harris of lying about working at McDonald’s during a summer while she attended Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Trump, who inherited family wealth and got his first job through his father’s company, does himself have a deep connection to the Golden arches: one of love. He has long spoken of his enjoyment of fast food, and on a visit to a McDonald’s franchise in Ohio last year told the staff, “I know this menu better than you do.”
When he attended a University of Alabama college football game last month he ordered a gut-busting spread of McDonald’s, Domino’s pizza and stadium hotdogs. Two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches with cheese was his order from the Golden Arches in that case.
