Days after Donald Trump staged a photo op by pretending to work a shift at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania, the right continues to tout the event as a major campaign moment.
The Trump campaign shut down the restaurant for regular customers and arranged for Trump to hand out food to supporters who had been pre-screened by the Secret Service. Almost immediately the Republican Party began selling merchandise labeled “MAGADonald’s.”
As he visited North Carolina on Monday, ostensibly to tour the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene (and not a weather weapon as many of his supporters have claimed), the McDonald’s celebration continued. Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina—with the debris of destroyed homes in the background—handed Trump a “French fry certification pin.”
Trump’s allies at conservative Fox News have gone into overdrive about the phony McDonald’s event.
“Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones praised the imagery of Trump pretending to work in the drive-thru line and said it was at the same level of “iconic photo” as the image of Trump after the attempt on his life.
Nayara Andrejczyk, one of the Trump fans who was a part of the hamburger handout, was interviewed on Fox’s “The Story.” The woman, who moved from Brazil to the U.S., told the network, “I don’t want to see this country become the corrupt sewage that Brazil is at this moment, where politicians do whatever they want with no accountability to the people.”
The exchange was then featured at the New York Post, which is also belongs to Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, with the headline “Pa. mom served by Trump at McDonald’s drive-thru dishes on her viral exchange with former president.”
After other news outlets reported on the stage management behind the McDonald’s interlude, Fox News lashed out at the critics. Fox claimed the “liberal media” was having a “meltdown” over the event, and the NY Post featured the supposed anger on the front page of its Tuesday paper.
But outside of the right-wing bubble, Trump’s trip is being deflated.
“Venture capitalists like JD Vance moved jobs out of rural communities. Donald Trump is cosplaying as a McDonald's worker,” Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, wrote on X. “@KamalaHarris and I have actually brought back jobs and stood up for workers—and we have real plans to support rural and manufacturing communities.”
At a campaign event for Harris-Walz, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez discussed billionaire Elon Musk’s attempts to buy the election and the Trump event.
“You’ve got Donald Trump, putting on a little McDonald’s costume because he thinks that’s what people do. They’re not trying to empathize with us, they are making fun of us,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Donald Trump, a 78-year-old who has never earned a real paycheck in his life, was putting on a show playing dress-up at McDonald’s to act like he is one of us,” United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain said at a Harris event.
McDonald’s employees took Trump to task on the Reddit forum, pointing out that while Trump was pretending to work, he did not adhere to the chain’s employee regulations. Trump didn’t wear a uniform shirt, non-slip shoes in the kitchen, or a hairnet or gloves.
“This is cosplay and insulting to people who have actually worked any amount of time in their lives,” one user wrote.
Late night comedians also called out Trump’s actions.
“No surprise, the man who’s never had an actual job in his life did not actually work at McDonald’s,” Stephen Colbert said on “The Late Show.”
“Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon noted, “He had a great time at McDonald’s, ’cause for 20 minutes, Trump actually ran a successful business.”
“Give him the job. I implore you. I don’t care if his references don’t shake out. Save democracy, give him the job,” Jon Stewart pleaded on “The Daily Show.”
As the right continued to tout the event, Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned alongside former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to emphasize the stakes of the election. Harris slammed Trump for his repeated attempts to demean and divide the U.S., adding, “It does not lead to the strength of our nation to tell American people that we must be suspicious of one another, distrust one another.”
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