Former President Donald Trump took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris during a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, ridiculing her assertion that she worked at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during a summer break in the early 1980s.
Trump, who is vying for the GOP presidential nomination, reiterated his skepticism about Harris’s fast-food experience, saying, “For a long time, [Harris has] been talking about her experience at McDonald’s. ‘I worked at McDonald’s, over the french fries, it was so hot.’”
In a surprising twist, Trump declared his intention to experience the job for himself. “I think I’m gonna go to a McDonald’s next week, somewhere—maybe not in your area—and I’m gonna work the french fry job for about half an hour. I want to see how it is,” he stated, prompting laughter and applause from the crowd.
Trump’s comments come amid ongoing discussions surrounding Harris's background. The Vice President has often highlighted her summer job at McDonald’s as part of her narrative of working-class roots. In a recent post on social media platform X, she referred to herself as “a daughter of Oakland, California, who was raised by a working mother and had a summer job at McDonald’s.”
The Harris campaign also released a video emphasizing her middle-class upbringing and work experience, asserting, “Kamala Harris knows what it's like to be middle class.”
In response to Harris’s statements, Trump took to Truth Social to declare, “Comrade Kamala Harris lied about working at McDonald’s. SHE NEVER WORKED THERE; they think she’s ‘nuts.’”
A day before his Truth Social post, Trump attended a Moms for Liberty event in Washington, D.C., where he claimed that after a “20-minute extensive study,” it was determined that Harris never worked at the fast-food chain.
As the 2024 election race heats up, this exchange underscores the ongoing political rivalry and the unique ways candidates are drawing on personal narratives to connect with voters.