USA Trump campaigning at McDonald's - spike against Harris

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has campaigned at a branch of the fast food restaurant McDonald's - the move is a dig at his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

"I've wanted to do this my whole life. And now I'm doing it," said the 78-year-old before his brief visit to a branch in Feasterville-Trevose in the US state of Pennsylvania. After arriving, Trump took off his jacket and put on an apron. He then went into the kitchen and was shown the deep fryer, fried potato strips and finally filled a cardboard tray with French fries. He then stood at the window of the restaurant's drive-through area, handed out an order and had his photo taken.

During the election campaign, Harris stated that he had worked at the fast food chain over the summer during his studies. The Democrat's campaign team claims that Harris was employed in Alameda, California, in the summer of 1983. Trump has been claiming for weeks that Harris made this up - he has no proof of this. The New York Times writes that McDonald's has ignored media inquiries on the subject. According to the newspaper, it spoke to a childhood friend of Harris who recalled that the current US Vice President used to work at the chain.

Trump fires up conspiracy myths again and again

Spreading conspiracy theories and sowing doubt among the population is part of Trump's political strategy. To this day, the Republican continues to lie about the 2020 presidential election and claims that electoral fraud prevented him from winning. Trump was also one of the most prominent proponents of the racist conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and should therefore not have been allowed to become US president. Obama, the first black president of the United States, was born in the US state of Hawaii.

Trump's visit to the fast food restaurant was a huge media spectacle. The Republican told the journalists present that he had now worked 15 minutes longer at McDonald's than Harris. Asked about the Democrat's 60th birthday, Trump said: "Happy birthday Kamala. (...) I think I'll give her some flowers, maybe some fries too." The billionaire presents himself in the election campaign as a representative of ordinary people. He was born in New York City, the son of a real estate mogul, and entered the business after graduating from university. In the presidential election on November 5, it will be a neck-and-neck race between him and Harris.

SDA