Donald Trump’s viral McDonald’s shift mocked online for being completely staged

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Published Oct 21, 2024 at 12:56 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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Image by realdonaldtrump from IG

After previously making waves with AI-generated images of him standing alongside Black voters, Donald Trump has returned with yet another head-turning stunt, just two weeks before the 2024 US presidential election. This time, he ditched his signature tailored suit for a McDonald’s uniform, stepping behind the counter at a Pennsylvania location, serving up fries like a fast-food pro—or so the footage would have you believe.

Trump also jokingly stated that since Harris had previously claimed to have worked at a fast-food restaurant during her college years, he would actually be doing it for the first time.

But here’s the kicker: the entire restaurant was closed. The video made it seem like Trump was flipping burgers and working the drive-thru, but in reality, every staff member in the building was a Secret Service agent. The whole event was a carefully staged performance.

Let’s be real, politicians doing wacky things in the lead-up to an election isn’t exactly groundbreaking news. Remember Rishi Sunak’s petrol station stunt? But this one takes the Happy Meal cake. Trump’s supporters, unsurprisingly, were all over it, praising the former president for his “relatability” and “showing he understands the struggles of the average American.”

Social media was flooded with memes and jokes—some even pointing out that, with 34 felony convictions, Trump wouldn’t even qualify for a job at McDonald’s in real life.

Almost immediately, Trump started getting roasted. The whole thing was, as usual, more of a reality show spectacle than any attempt at connecting with working-class voters.

With only 14 days left until election day, Trump knows that dominating the news cycle is key to staying relevant. The more attention he gets, the less room there is for Vice President Kamala Harris to make her case.

As reported by Pedestrian, Chas Licciardello from Planet America explains the method behind Trump’s madness: “Trump’s goal is to make voters question whether Harris is the genuine article. He’s banking on people hearing this McDonald’s stunt, and then hearing the repeated assertions that Harris never worked there, until they start wondering, ‘Is she fake?’”

This is classic Trump, who’s less interested in facts and more focused on hammering home an idea over and over again until it sticks—no matter how flimsy the foundation.

In the words of Licciardello, “Conservative voters, especially online, are really into trolling. And they’re all over this McDonald’s story.” Trump has a knack for appealing to this audience, and they seem to love his over-the-top antics, no matter how absurd they may seem to the rest of us. It wouldn’t be surprising if X (or Twitter, as it was once called) and its chief troll, Elon Musk, had something to do with the viral push behind this latest stunt.

I guess it’s safe to say that in typical Trump fashion, the McDonald’s stunt, though staged, achieved exactly what it set out to do—grab headlines and dominate the conversation just days before the election. Whether you see it as clever showmanship or a desperate attempt to distract from his legal troubles, one thing is clear: Donald Trump knows how to keep people talking. As the election looms, the real question remains whether these tactics will help him win back the White House—or if they’re just another fast-food distraction from the larger issues at hand.