Trump And Harris: The Fight For The Fast-Food Vote In The 2024 Election

In the final days of the 2024 presidential election campaign, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have made a point of approximating themselves with McDonald's workers. And it's clear why. According to a 2023 survey conducted by McDonald's, one in eight Americans has worked in its restaurants. If this is accurate, U.S. Census statistics suggest nearly 42 million Americans have that shared work experience.

Harris, the Democratic nominee, has spoken during her campaign of working at a McDonald's restaurant at college to highlight that she can relate directly to the life experiences of working and middle-class Americans, unlike the billionaire Trump. However, her claim to have worked at McDonald's is unsubstantiated so far, and Harris' political opponents have sought to capitalize on the apparent absence of corroborating evidence. The Trump campaign has explicitly said, again without evidence, that it's a lie.

In this context, Trump stopped at a McDonald's restaurant in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the 2024 election, on October 20 for a campaign publicity event to needle Harris and show he connects with workers. The Republican nominee posed for photos and videos while he donned an apron, manned the fryers, and served customers at the drive-thru window, joking that he has "now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald's."

According to The Washington Post, the restaurant was closed off for the event and customers were vetted by the Secret Service, which has come under intense scrutiny over its protection of Trump, who has faced attempted assassinations. With McDonald's a perhaps unexpected focal point of the 2024 presidential campaign, Newsweek asked Americans who had worked there about their experiences—and who they think is winning the issue between Trump and Harris.

Dan Gershenson—Kamala Harris

I worked at McDonald's as my very first job in the summer of 1988 in Wheaton, Illinois. I was just shy of my 16th birthday and earned a whopping $3.65 an hour. I half-jokingly say McDonald's was the hardest job of my life. You're constantly moving and coordinating your cooking (I was usually at the McNuggets station) based on the crowd. You're over heat, sweating and on your feet but for a short 15-minute lunch break.

But that job kept me humble. I was one of a team and everyone was dependent on one another or we would be delayed and the customer would be upset. My Dad wanted me to have any summer job, but I think he liked I worked at McDonald's to learn the value of hard work and with a team. I will always remind myself that even my hardest day at work today as a business owner sitting at a desk doing what I enjoy is nothing compared to the eight-hour sprint at McDonald's!

I believe Kamala Harris is winning on McDonald's not merely because she worked at McDonald's but because she has actually worked in a "real" job for little money in that role which is closer to what so many Americans identify with. We all are trying to make it in this world with increasing prices, child care, housing, and college loans. Trump can't identify with ANY of that struggle. He seems only to use tariffs as an answer instead of solutions that are far more direct. Kamala Harris' solutions put more in the middle class' pockets to save.

Barry Smith—Donald Trump

As a 17-year-old, working at McDonald's in 1978 was a lot of fun. All of the employees got along very well and we were like one big family. Many of my coworkers were high school classmates. As a McDonald's employee, you didn't just have a single role at the restaurant, which made the restaurant operate more efficiently. I mostly manned the grill, but I also operated the fryer, mopped the floors, dumped out the grease traps, etc.

Donald Trump—let me be clear, as Kamala Harris would say—won the "McDonald's challenge" having pulled off a major public relations victory by committing some of his time at McDonald's. Harris has failed to prove that she ever worked at McDonald's. One never forgets when and where he/she worked there. Harris saying she worked the fryer makes me very skeptical. As I mentioned, we workers were trained to do several jobs, not just one.

Furthermore, Harris has never mentioned