Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 20 served food at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, while Vice President Kamala Harris visited two churches in Georgia, as both candidates vie to sway undecideds in battleground states in the final stretch before the Nov. 5 election.
The Republican presidential candidate manned the fry station at the fast food establishment in Feasterville-Trevose before staging an impromptu news conference, answering questions from reporters through the drive-thru window.
After an employee showed Trump how to dunk baskets of fries in oil, the former president took his turn and even helped fill some takeout bags.
“It requires great expertise, actually, to do it right and to do it fast,” Trump said with a grin. “I do appreciate it a little more. You say, ‘Give me french fries.’ I’ll never forget this experience.”
The campaign stop was part of a swing in the Keystone State. He will hold a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, later on Oct. 20 before attending the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets.
Harris has talked about working at McDonald’s while growing up.
“Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald’s is because there are people who work at McDonald’s in our country who are trying to raise a family—I worked there as a student, I was a kid—who work there trying to raise families and pay rent on that,” she told MSNBC last month.
“I think part of the difference between me and my opponent includes our perspective on the needs of the American people and what our responsibility, then, is to meet those needs.”
Trump is no stranger to McDonald’s.
During the 2018–2019 government shutdown, when cooks at the White House were furloughed, the 45th president ordered hundreds of burgers, fries, and items from McDonald’s, as well as Burger King, Wendy’s, and Dominoes, to honor the Clemson Tigers, who won the national college football championship that year. He presented a similar feast to the 2019 women’s college basketball champions, the Baylor Lady Bears.
He also appeared in a 2002 TV advertisement with Grimace, one of the fast-food franchise’s mascots.
The owner of the McDonald’s outlet that hosted Trump, Derek Giacomantonio, said, “It is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community.”
He said in a statement that was why he accepted Trump’s request “to observe the transformative working experience that 1 in 8 Americans have had: a job at McDonald’s.”
Trump told reporters when he got off his plane, “I really wanted to do this all my life.”
Harris in Georgia
Meanwhile, Harris addressed a church in Georgia, another swing state. Oct. 20 was also Harris’s 60th birthday.
In an Oct. 20 speech at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, in what appeared to be an appeal to black voters, Harris talked about being in the midst of a key time in U.S. history.
“Let us look at where we are and understand the lesson of the Gospel of Luke, because right now, each of us has an opportunity to make a difference,” she said.
“In this moment, our country is at a crossroads, and where we go from here is up to us, as Americans and as people of faith. And now we ask a question: We face this question, what kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear, and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion, and justice.”
Harris also discussed uplifting others.
“My earliest memories of those teachings are about a loving God, a loving God. A God who asks us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the rights of the poor and the needy,” she said.
“There are those who suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down instead of what we know, which is the true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up.”
Additionally, Harris spoke about the concept of the Good Samaritan.
“Let us focus on what God shows us about the Good Samaritans walking among us to remind us of the power, the agency, the ability, and, dare I say, the duty that we have to come to another’s aid in moments of need. To love thy neighbor,” she said. “And what God is showing us is that any of us can do that no matter who we are.”
Harris recalled a case in the district attorney’s office in Oakland, California, when she was an intern, of an innocent woman who was a bystander during a drug bust but was apprehended by police. Harris said the woman was released from jail after Harris advocated to the court clerk for her not to stay behind bars during the weekend pending a hearing the following Monday.
“I share that story to say that we have all, in our lives, from the earliest stages of our lives, had those moments where it has been revealed to us our power. And we should never let anyone take our power from us, or in any way try to convince us we are powerless,” Harris said.
