Donald Trump Has A Strange Fixation On Kamala Harris' McDonald's Job

Scrutinizing your opponent's prior work experience is a routine part of any presidential campaign. In a lot of ways, it makes total sense. After all, president of the United States may be the most prestigious job in the country, but it's ultimately just that, a job, and as with any other job, you first need to convince those in charge of hiring — in this case, the American people — that you're more qualified than your competition. However, presidential candidates don't typically focus efforts on their opponent's part-time summer job at McDonald's, but that's exactly what former President Donald Trump has elected to do.

According to the Independent, Vice President Kamala Harris first mentioned her experience working at McDonald's as far back as 2019, while speaking to striking fast food workers in Las Vegas. In the years since, she has continued to tout her time at the popular fast-food chain, even mentioning it in a campaign ad that debuted during the Democratic National Convention in August 2024. 

In predictably Trumpian fashion, the former president has questioned the veracity of the vice president's story. According to Newsweek, while peaking at the Moms for Liberty convention, Trump claimed, "After an exhaustive study that took about 20 minutes, they found out she never worked there." Despite never clarifying what study he was referring to, Trump doubled down on this accusation in subsequent appearances, repeatedly calling this Harris' story a "lie" at numerous campaign events and in several posts to Truth Social.

On the surface, this might seem like a strange line of attack. Ultimately, Kamala Harris' experience at McDonald's, or lack thereof, has little bearing on her ability to perform the duties of president. But it's clear Donald Trump sees her claim as a threat to his grip on working-class voters. Although it's standard practice for politicians to flaunt their humble roots on the campaign trail, Vice President Harris' experience at McDonald's gives her outreach an added sense of legitimacy. 

It's one thing to say "I come from the middle-class, I'm never gonna forget where I come from," as she did during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" (via X, formerly known as Twitter), but it's another thing entirely to have the bona fides — a distinction of which Harris appears acutely aware. In an interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, Harris explained, "[P]art 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." 

Ultimately, Trump's fixation with discrediting Harris' story appears to be rooted in fear. Born the heir to his father's real estate empire, the former president cannot relate to the lived experience of most voters and he seems to recognize how that could hurt him electorally. He needs Harris' claim to be untrue because his attempts to position himself as a champion for the working class are tenuous enough as it is without such a striking point of contrast.