Trump tries to troll Harris by serving french fries at McDonald's

Former President Donald Trump served french fries at a McDonald's near Philadelphia on Sunday, over-salting the potatoes and seasoning them with a few jabs at Vice President Kamala Harris.

The campaign visit to the critical battleground state a little more than two weeks before Election Day was intended to troll Harris, who has talked about working at one of the fast-food chain's restaurants when she was younger. Without evidence, Trump accused Harris of lying about the experience to bolster her credibility among the working class.

Trump repeated his baseless claims on Sunday.

“It was a big part of her resume that she worked at McDonald's – what a hard job that was,” Trump said at the restaurant in Feasterville, Pennsylvania. “She…made the french fries and talked about the heat: 'It was so hard.' She’s never worked at McDonald’s.”

Harris spokesman Ian Sams fired back in a statement to NBC News.

“When Trump is desperate, all he can do is lie,” Sams said. “He can't understand what it's like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter only to screw it up.”

According to her campaign, Harris worked at McDonald's in Alameda, California, in the summer of 1983. She was a student at Howard University at the time and worked the cash register and the chip and ice cream machines.

Trump's own love of fast food is well documented. During a government shutdown in 2019, he famously served pizza from McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Domino's on silver platters to welcome and celebrate the college football national champion Clemson Tigers during their visit to the White House.

During his half-hour shift on Sunday, Trump swapped his suit jacket for an apron and received a quick tutorial from a fry cook. Then he went to the deep fryer himself, dropped two portions of potatoes into hot oil and waited for them to cook. He mostly followed the instructions, but forgot to completely drain the oil from one batch and seemed to be more generous with the salt.

Trump always marveled at the way the fries are packaged using a shovel-like device.

“Never touched by a human hand,” he once said. “Nice and clean.”

Trump then turned his attention to the drive-thru window, filling several orders and chatting with customers as they passed by in their cars.

“This isn't a normal situation, is it?” he remarked, before assuring customers that they wouldn't have to pay for their food and bragging that he made their fries himself.

“There is no fee,” he said. “Trump is paying for it. … It all depends on Trump, can I do that?”

Several customers chanted Trump's slogan, “Make America Great Again,” as they passed the line.

“I wouldn’t mind this job,” Trump said. “I like this job. I would come back and do it again.”

During Sunday's visit, the franchise was closed for regular business and it was not immediately clear how the drive-thru customers served by Trump were selected. In a statement, the location's owner and operator, Derek Giacomantonio, said he chose to attend the Trump campaign rally because “it is a core value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to all who visit the Feasterville Visit church.”

Trump also served fries to the assembled reporters and answered questions from the assembled reporters. He dodged a direct answer as to whether the federal minimum wage should be raised.

“Oh, you’re being very stingy with the product,” he said to an employee filling bags with chips. “Look at this. She is a good worker. That's the kind of people you want to have. She gave them one French fry for 30 reporters.”

Towards the end of his appearance, Trump was informed that it was Harris' 60th birthday.

“I think I’ll get her some flowers,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get her some fries.”