Trump spoke with supporters and the press during the PA campaign stop, while critics called it “staged”.
On Sunday, former President Donald Trump was at the Feasterville-Trevose McDonald’s drive-thru during a campaign event in Bucks County and learned how to make the fast-food chain’s signature fries. McDonald’s is known to be one of Trump’s favorite chains and he served it during the 2019 government shutdown to the Clemson Tigers football team for winning the national college football championship that year.
One of the patrons served by Trump, Nayara Andrejczyk, asked him through the window, “Mr. President, please don’t let the U.S. become Brazil, my native Brazil, please”, to which Trump replied, “We’re gonna make it better than ever, OK?” In an interview with Fox News’ “The Story” on Monday, Andrejczyk talked about moving to the U.S. from Brazil 26 years ago, elaborating, “My parents were victims of Brazilian corruption, government corruption. My mom lost a pretty successful business…almost 30 years ago, and that’s the reason why we moved to the United States. I am very grateful for this country. I love this country. And I don’t want to see this country become the corrupt sewage that Brazil is at this moment, where politicians do whatever they want with no accountability to the people.” When speaking about her viral moment with the former president, she said, “He looked us in the eye. The way he communicated with us, the way he greeted my children in the back seat. It was incredible. My kids were [saying], ‘I can’t believe I shook Donald Trump’s hand’…He was very genuine. He’s a genuine man.”
Caitlin Hanlon, a hairdresser from Feasterville, told the New York Post, “Love him or hate him, I just feel it’s really cool to see this moment in history.” A couple who Trump served at the drive-thru window said, “Mr. President, thank you for taking a bullet for us…You made it possible for ordinary people like us to meet you.”
Critics have claimed the stint was too “staged”, and supporters were quick to point out that the extra security around the event was necessary for the former president after having multiple assassination attempts.
In a statement posted on the door of the eatery, franchisee Derek Giacomantonio said, “As a small, independent business owner, it is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community. That’s why I accepted former President Trump’s request to observe the transformative working experience that 1 in 8 Americans have had: a job at McDonald’s.”
An internal message from McDonald’s was shared on X said, “Though we are not a political brand, we’ve been proud to hear former President Trump’s love for McDonald’s and Vice President Harris’s fond memories of working under the Arches. While we and our franchisees don’t have records for all positions dating back to the early ‘80s, what makes ‘1 in 8’ so powerful is the shared experience so many Americans have had.”
Trump had recently claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris lied about working for the chain back in the 1980s. Speaking to reporters from the drive-thru window, Trump was quoted, “I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala” before wishing her a happy birthday. Harris claims she worked the cash register, fry station, and ice cream machine at a McDonald’s on Central Avenue in Alameda, California in 1983, during the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at Howard University.
The internal statement added that the franchises have since invited Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to their restaurants. With just 2 weeks until the election, it’s not known if they have or will accept the offer. While speaking to the press at the drive-thru window, Trump said “I could do this all day. I wouldn’t mind this job. I like this job. I think I might come back and do it again.”