Trump cooks fries at McDonald's to undermine Harris

• Donald Trump visited a McDonald's in a key Pennsylvania county on Sunday.
• Kamala Harris said she once worked at McDonald's, which is an important part of her biography.
• Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Harris did not work at McDonald's.

Former President Donald Trump has long been known for his love of the Golden Arches.

After landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday, Trump and his team traveled to a McDonald's location in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, where he donned an official employee apron and began handing out orders to customers waiting in the drive-thru lane. He also helped cook the restaurant's signature french fries.

Trump's visit, however, had little to do with his love of food.

For weeks, Trump has tried – without providing any evidence – to sow doubt that Vice President Kamala Harris ever worked at McDonald's, which has become an important part of her biography.

Harris said she worked at the cash register making fries in the summer of 1983. At the time, Harris was a student at Howard University, and her campaign says she was working at a McDonald's on Central Avenue in Alameda, California, a city in the Francisco Bay Area.

The former president said Friday in Detroit that Harris “lied about working at McDonald's.”

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller also expressed doubts about Harris' employment at McDonald's on Saturday, telling reporters that Trump was going to the restaurant “so a candidate in this race could have actually worked at McDonald's.”

Trump jabbed Harris again on Sunday. While standing at the drive-thru window, he said he had worked at McDonald's “15 minutes longer than Kamala” and again accused her of never working at the chain.

Harris has strongly defended herself against Trump's accusations.

“When Trump is desperate, the only way he knows how to lie is,” Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams told Business Insider. “He can't understand what it's like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter only to screw it up.”

The Harris campaign has highlighted the vice president's experience at McDonald's as part of a middle-class upbringing that could resonate with millions of Americans — and that separates her from the affluent life of Trump.

Harris and Trump continue to have a historically close race. Trump has sought to promote his handling of the economy, an issue he used to his advantage when President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee.

But when Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris became the nominee, she quickly engaged in a stimulus battle with Trump and managed to erode his once-large advantage on the issue in key swing states.

McDonald's, headquartered in Chicago, is the largest fast food chain in the world with more than 40,000 locations. According to the company's website, the chain plans to have 50,000 locations worldwide by the end of 2027.

McDonald's is also a major employer. In Pennsylvania alone, the company's franchises employ over 25,000 people. In a statement to Business Insider on Sunday, the owner of the McDonald's location Trump visited said it was an honor to “introduce” the restaurant chain.

“As a small, independent business owner, it is a core value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to anyone who visits the Feasterville community. That's why I accepted former President Trump's request to experience the transformative work experience that one in eight Americans have.” “I had: a job at McDonald's,” said Derek Giacomantonio.

“As a former crew member, I can attest that this job is more than just burgers and fries, but a meaningful path to opportunity.”

Trump's appetite for McDonald's – and other fast food chains – is well documented.

After winning the required number of GOP delegates to secure the party's 2016 presidential nomination, Trump was photographed eating a McDonald's Big Mac on his private jet.

And in January 2019, Trump hosted Clemson University's college championship team at the White House, where he ordered the players a variety of fast-food staples from McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Domino's Pizza.

Business Insider has reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment.