The swirling controversy around Vice President Kamala Harris’s past claim that she briefly worked at McDonald’s deepened on Sunday after the company reportedly sent a memo to employees saying it has no record of her employment.
For a time while in high school, Harris has repeatedly said she worked as a McDonald’s cook during the summer to save money. The story has been repeated countless times on the campaign trail where she does her best to relate to everyday Americans, one in eight of whom will pass through the Golden Arch’s human resources at some point in their lives, according to the company. Her “working class” credentials as a fry cook were highlighted during the Democratic National Convention where running mate Tim Walz took a shot at former President Donald Trump. “He couldn’t run that damn McFlurry machine if it cost him anything,” he said, ABC News reported.
Two days after Trump proved Walz wrong by donning an apron and serving customers through the drive-thru window, McDonald’s said in a statement that while Harris may have “fond memories” of her time there, they have no employment history on file. “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 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,” the leaked statement, which has not yet been verified by news organizations, reads. The statement originated from an X account run by a McDonald’s franchisee, and a source at McDonald’s has confirmed its validity.
The letter also reads as an open invitation for Harris to try her hand at flipping a burger or managing the take-out window, but whether she or Walz will accept the invite remains to be seen. Trump put on a show, declaring he had “worked 15 minutes more than Kamala” during his visit to a McDonald’s in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on Saturday. “Now I have worked at McDonald’s. I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala,” the former president joked. “She never worked here. I’ve worked at McDonald’s.” When a reporter asked Trump why he thinks Harris would lie about her job record, Trump replied, “Because she’s lyin’ Kamala, that’s why.
Despite the controversy, Democrats have kept leaning into the McDonald’s message. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has told audiences about his time working there, as well. “I still have the framed picture which you just saw, and there was a ring, golden arches and all. And then, I waited tables, parked cars. I was working full-time, so I could afford to go to college part-time. And thanks to partial scholarships, student loans, and a little help from my dad, I got myself through law school, and I got my first job as a lawyer,” he said at the DNC. Another messenger, former President Bill Clinton, stepped on it a bit during his own visit to a Georgia McDonald’s where one employee thought she was laying eyes on President Joe Biden.
