Former President Trump on Sunday stepped behind the counter at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, working the drive-thru for a short time for a campaign photo op after he spent weeks mocking Vice President Harris’s past experience at the fast-food chain.
Trump traded his suit jacket for an apron at a McDonald’s location in Bucks County. He worked the fry cooker and handed an order to a customer at the drive-thru.
The restaurant was closed to the public during his visit, and NBC News reported that the customers who Trump served at the drive-thru were pre-screened by his campaign and vetted for security.
Those measures come after Trump has been the target of two assassination attempts earlier this year– one at a rally in Pennsylvania, and one at a Florida golf course.
The visit amounted to a campaign stunt to generate coverage, and it drew criticism from the Harris campaign and its allies.
“Donald Trump, a 78 year old, who’s never earned a real paycheck in his life, put on a show, playing dress up to act like he’s one of us,” Shawn Fain, head of the United Auto Workers (UAW), said at a Harris campaign event Sunday.
The former president stopped at the fast-food chain ahead of a town hall in Lancaster, Pa., later Sunday. He also attended the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the New York Jets on Sunday night.
Trump has been fixated for weeks on Harris’s past experience working at McDonald’s in college.
The Harris campaign launched an ad in August highlighting the vice president’s upbringing in an effort to appeal to middle-class voters.
The ad noted that Harris worked at McDonald’s while earning her college degree at Howard University. She had referenced the experience during past campaigns as well.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly suggested Harris did not actually work at McDonald’s because it was not listed on her resume.
“I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala,” Trump quipped Sunday.
A Harris campaign spokesperson on Sunday highlighted an exchange on X in which Trump did not say he would support a minimum wage increase.
“Trump is nothing more than a sock pocket for billionaires when it comes to the policies that matter for working people’s bank accounts,” Joseph Costello posted on X.
Trump’s love of fast food is well known. The former president has been photographed eating McDonald’s on his campaign plane, and in 2019 he served college athletes visiting the White House McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King.
“I like it all. I like every ounce of it, everything,” Trump said when asked what his favorite item at McDonald’s is. “But I do like the french fries, where I’ll be working.”
Updated at 9:58 a.m. EDT on Oct. 21.