McDonald Trump had a shift serving fries. Will the stunt expand his base? | Arwa Mahdawi

RRemember the scary clown sightings that started in 2016? Creepy clowns have been popping up all over the world, terrifying small children. The trend also spooked McDonald's executives, who began discontinuing Ronald McDonald due to the “current climate surrounding clown sightings in communities.”

Eight years later, another scary clown was spotted at a McDonald's in Feasterville Township, Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Donald Trump stopped by the Philadelphia-area fast food restaurant to serve french fries to hungry passersby. Or more specifically, to take photos of himself posing as a minimum wage worker. The former president didn't work a real shift: The franchise was reportedly closed during normal business hours and customers who came through the drive-thru during the 30 minutes he was there were all pre-screened.

Whoever checked on the customers must have gotten a compliment from Trump after the event, because he clearly approved of Feasterville's clientele. “Hello, how are you?” Trump says cheerfully in a video from his shift as he hands a bag of food to a blonde woman in a car. “What a beautiful woman. Look at the beautiful child, the whole thing – it’s like the perfect-looking person.”

What exactly was this little trick for? Well, Trump only does things out of self-interest or spite. In this case, he was trolling Kamala Harris, who has talked about working at McDonald's while in college in the 1980s. With this anecdote, the Vice President emphasized that, unlike Trump, she comes from the middle class and did not grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth. Trump is strangely preoccupied with Harris's career at McDonald's and insists, without any evidence, that she is lying. He chose Harris' 60th birthday for his fast food photo op, apparently in an attempt to show her who's boss. I'm sure she lost a lot of sleep because of this.

It's not exactly a secret that Trump doesn't like paying for things: Hundreds of workers and contractors have accused the former president of not paying his bills. So it's also possible that in addition to taking a dig at Harris, Trump arranged his McDonald's shift because he wanted a free lunch. He definitely loves fast food. During his time in the White House, he caused quite a stir when he welcomed the championship-winning Clemson University football team to the White House with an array of Big Macs on silver platters. He similarly greeted NCAA Football Championship Subdivision champion North Dakota State, noting, “I know you,” before adding, “We like American companies.”

Whatever his motivations, the internet had a field day with Trump's trip to the Golden Arches, and the criminal has earned a new nickname: Donald McDonald. There were also a plethora of McMemes. However, McDonald's Corporation bosses weren't quite as pleased about their brand being forced into politics – especially as there was a spike in Google searches for “boycott McDonald's” on Monday morning.

“McDonald's does not endorse candidates for elected office, including in this race for the next president,” the company said in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News. “We are not red or blue – we are golden.”

The company also underscored its neutrality by inviting Harris to visit with franchisees that independently own and operate more than 95% of U.S. locations.

This isn't the first time McDonald's has been caught up in politics. Last year, a franchisee in Israel offered free meals to Israeli forces after the start of the Gaza war, sparking a boycott of the brand in Middle Eastern markets and pro-Palestinian circles. The boycott was clearly effective enough to force McDonald's to buy back its 30-year-old Israel franchise after a global sales slump.

It seems unlikely that Trump's brief visit will have any positive or negative impact on McDonald's sales in the United States. But the Trump campaign is already capitalizing on the enthusiasm for the event to sell “MAGADonald's” T-shirts commemorating the visit. “I have a gift for you!” That’s what it says on the Trump campaign shop website. “I am the first and only 2024 presidential candidate to work at McDonald’s.”

I don't know, but as a resident of Pennsylvania, I want to share my hyperlocal opinion: Trump picked the wrong McDonald's for his photo op. Instead of Feasterville, he should have gone to the McDonald's in South Philly, where the late Russell Tyrone Jones, aka Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan, was arrested in 2000. It has now been immortalized as ODB McDonald's and, for reasons I don't need to mention, seems to be the perfect venue for Trump. Or maybe he should have gone to Burger King. We all know Trump's love of Whoppers.