Campaign trails are political theater at its peak. All politics is theater nowadays, but the campaign trail takes it up a whole other level, and rightly so. It’s the best way for candidates to engage directly with voters. Most of the time, voters just see candidates through a screen, standing at a podium with makeup on, giving grandiose speeches. On the campaign trail, however, voters see the humanity of politicians, at least the little of it they may have. Voters get to see real people. They get to see candidates eat corndogs at state fairs. Voters get to see nominees scream exultations and promises for the country to jubilant crowds.
On Oct. 20, former president Donald Trump stopped in Feasterville, Pennsylvania to work a shift at America’s most famous burger joint: McDonald’s. It was a last-ditch effort to target blue-collar American workers ahead of a dramatic election night on Nov. 5. The visit did nothing but gift the public with photos of Trump in a McDonald’s apron, which look like artificial intelligence could’ve generated them. It most definitely did not sway any votes or lead to a jump in polls.
The entire event was a publicity stunt by the Trump campaign. He didn’t actually work a shift at McDonald’s; he just wanted to make it look like he did and get photos of it. For a short while, Trump tossed fries around, salted the fried potatoes and served them through a to-go window. The people who received the fries, however, didn’t order them; there were select cars hand-picked to be a part of the stunt.
The dichotomy of Trump’s campaign trail is quite comical. On Oct. 17, just three days before serving fries, Trump was serving speeches and quips at a white-tie event in New York City at the Al Smith Dinner. This event attracts some of New York’s, and the country’s, most influential politicians. Gov. Kathy Hochul was present, along with past mayor Mike Bloomberg. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, was present as Jim Gaffigan, of all people, emceed the event. Others like Robert Kraft and Robert Kennedy Jr. were in attendance as Trump joked about Vice President Kamala Harris not being present because she was too busy “receiving communion from Gretchen Whitmer,” the governor of Michigan.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was also in attendance at the fancy dinner and Trump warmly consoled and defended Adams for his latest indictments.
Trump went from the fanciest of events to, well, a McDonald’s in small-town Pennsylvania in a matter of days. It’s hard to relate to the common man right after he left an event that raised more money in a single night than most Americans can fathom in their entire lives.
Harris is no different, for the record, but she didn’t go from making fun of her running counterpart and other prominent politicians, to violating the health code at a fast-food joint. Trump refused to wear a hairnet or gloves; he was bare-handing salt and throwing it over his shoulder, joking about being superstitious.
The strategy of trying to appeal to blue-collar workers who make up the majority of America is logical, cerebral even, but to joke about their work is counterintuitive to what the stunt intended to do. The practice shift didn’t do anything to Trump’s benefit.
If voters were still on the fence as of the showing at McDonald’s, it’s highly unlikely that people, after seeing this act, reconsidered. Maybe a few McRib fanatics or enthusiasts changed their minds, but sticking his head out a drive-thru window at the Golden Arches will not change anything for Trump or be a deciding factor in this election.
It is nice of Trump to try and relate to the common person, someone who reportedly made $14 an hour last year. But the common person can also see right through these antics. Trump inherited astronomical familial wealth, reportedly totaling around $413 million over the years. $14 per hour is a joke to Trump, but a living for others.
Good for Trump for trying to appeal to the common man, but this photoshoot didn’t do anything other than spotlight his privilege. Nor did it change anything at all. A stunt like this will not sway any votes.
Trump would’ve earned $14 per hour, something completely unserious to him, on Oct. 20, while his net worth is $6.6 billion, according to Forbes. When asked about changing the hourly minimum wage, he dodged the question like he did hairnets and gloves.
Just for fun, let’s put the current Pennsylvania minimum wage in perspective: one would have to work roughly 57,500 years on a McDonald’s hourly wage to meet Trump’s net worth. And that’s before taxes—which the former president is known for not always paying.
