Prominent Democrats and liberal media pundits aren’t lovin’ it.
Former President Trump served french fries to customers through the drive-thru window at McDonald's on Sunday afternoon in Pennsylvania as thousands of supporters surrounded the restaurant. In the ensuing days, Trump critics slammed the event as "staged," despite multiple instances of Harris-Walz campaign events being similarly pre-planned, such as an August visit to Primanti Bros. in Moon, Pa., and the viral footage of Harris searching for Doritos in a gas station.
"Squad" leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested Trump was "making fun" of Americans with the McDonald’s event during a Harris campaign event in Pennsylvania on Monday.
TRUMP MAKES FRIES AT PENNSYLVANIA MCDONALD'S: 'I'VE NOW WORKED FOR 15 MINUTES MORE THAN KAMALA'
"He put on his little McDonald’s costume... Halloween came early for Donald Trump, because we know that man has never worked a day in his life," Ocasio-Cortez said of the former president.
"We know that man has never punched a clock in his life. He’s never wiped down a table in his life. He’s never had to fix his own car. He’s never struggled to make end's meet. He does not know what it means to check your paycheck every week and see what you’ve got left," she added. "Donald Trump thinks that people who work at McDonald’s are a joke."
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., a Harris surrogate, joined MSNBC to mock the event.
"There is no logic to it, it’s a stunt. He has not put forth an economic agenda. He, as you know, appears to be not well," Lee said.
Trump was accused of pushing "phony McDonald’s sales" on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe," while Rachel Maddow said he "pretended to work at McDonald’s."
"CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O’Donnell praised Vice President Kamala Harris for "targeting disaffected Republican voters" while Trump was "staging a campaign stunt" at McDonald’s.
On ABC’s "The View," Whoopi Goldberg complained Trump didn’t wear a hair net while her colleagues blasted the event as "staged."
The New York Times found McDonald’s employees to criticize the former president for holding a red french fry carton backwards and throwing salt over his shoulder in a superstitious act. The Times even found a McDonald’s general manager to suggest Trump is too old to handle the fryer.
Trump was also mocked on late-night programs, as Stephen Colbert called the event "blue-collar drag" and Jimmy Fallon said it was the first time Trump "ran a successful business."
The Atlantic published a piece headlined, "The Slop Candidate," which called the event a "hastily staged depiction of a fairly stupid, though entertaining fantasy."
Backlash from the left was so over-the-top that "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart had some criticism.
"The poor, sweet media — oh, poor, sweet media. They know they’re mad, they’re just not exactly sure which thing they should be maddest about anymore. But I can tell you one thing, media, it probably shouldn’t be the McDonald’s thing," Stewart said before playing a clip of MSNBC political analyst Jennifer Rubin decrying that the event was "entirely staged" and suggesting Trump couldn’t actually operate the fry machine.
"What a pleasant counterpoint," Stewart joked. "Look, I’m all for criticizing Donald Trump but I gotta tell you, I also don’t know how to work the fryer at McDonald’s and would be incapable of doing so."
Several pundits and organizations who are reliably critical of Trump found the need to make it clear the former president didn’t actually accept a position at the fast-food joint.
"Trump did not work a shift," former CNN reporter John Harwood astutely pointed out. "He posed for pictures at a closed McDonald's handing fries to pre-screened pretend-customers."
LIBERAL MEDIA HAS MELTDOWN OVER TRUMP'S ‘FIRST DAY’ WORKING AT MCDONALD'S
Newsweek explored the situation with a story headlined, "Was Donald Trump's McDonald's Shift ‘Staged’?" The Newsweek piece then declared, "A full shift generally implies 8 to 9 hours of work, yet posts circulating on social media suggest Trump worked there for less."
CNN’s Brian Stelter was mocked on X for writing, "For security reasons, Trump's McDonalds visit was carefully staged ahead of time, with drive-through customers selected and screened by Secret Service, etc."
Many sarcastically replied to Stelter, noting they were stunned to learn Trump doesn’t actually work at McDonald's, while others were baffled that the CNN pundit felt this was newsworthy.
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck responded on X: "Um, yes, that's how it works for presidents and Secret Service protectees especially those who've had two people nearly murder him this year."
The Washington Post published a story headlined, "Trump serves McDonald’s fries to supporters in stage-managed campaign stop," which noted that "motorists whom Trump served were screened by the U.S. Secret Service and positioned before his arrival."
LIBERAL MEDIA HAS MELTDOWN OVER TRUMP'S 'FIRST DAY' WORKING AT MCDONALD'S
Seth Abramson, who long pushed the debunked Russian collusion narrative, declared that Trump’s McDonald’s event made America "sh-ttier."
"Perhaps no stunt in the history of U.S. politics deserves more ridicule than the grotesquely embarrassing mummery Trump put on at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s today The whole country got sh*ttier because of this The McDonald’s was closed, the customers were fake, Trump did nothing," Abramson posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The anti-Trump Lincoln Project accused Trump of "cosplaying as a fast food worker while you're trying to cut overtime pay for workers," citing Project 2025 even though Trump has repeatedly insisted he has nothing to do with Project 2025.
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem appeared on "Hannity" Monday to discuss outrage from the left.
"I think the reason that the Democrats and liberals are so upset is because this visit was so powerful… the difference between Donald Trump and other politicians is that he doesn’t think he’s better than you. He doesn’t think he’s better than the American people," Noem said.
The owner of the Feasterville McDonald's shared a statement with Fox News Digital, highlighting the importance of the former president's visit.
"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," owner and operator Derek Giacomantonio said.
"As a former crew member, I can attest this job is more than burgers and fries, but a meaningful pathway to opportunity. Local Pennsylvania franchisees like me are proud to provide more than 25,000 jobs across the state and I'm honored to showcase my restaurant and the incredible impact of the franchise business model here today," Giacomantonio continued.
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz, Stepheny Price and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
