For better or worse, the election is nearly upon us. That means the campaigning right now is even more eye roll-worthy than ever.
Take for example, Trump’s stint working the fry station at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s. While not even wearing a hair net—signifying he got special privileges not awarded to actual employees.Unfortunately, the absurdity of that little outing followed Trump across state lines in a particularly inappropriate way. Representative Chuck Edwards awarded Trump a French Fry pin, joking around as they stood before Hurricane Helene wreckage.
The road to the fry pin
On Sunday, Oct.20, Trump made a stop at a McDonald’s, put on an apron, and manned the fry station. Even more bizarrely, held an impromptu press coverage out of the drive-thru window (apron still on), where he expressed surprise that people don’t hold the fries with their hands and said he would accept November’s election results “if it’s a fair election.”
The stunt is almost certainly a reaction to Kamala Harris’s anecdote about her stint actually working at a McDonald’s during college. Trump has called this a lie. Of course, working at a McDonald’s as a necessity and pretending you work at McDonald’s for an hour while under supervision and surrounded by cameras are two very different things. Many McDonald’s workers have since decried Trump’s little visit, calling it “insulting cosplay.” Also, the McDonald’s in question got review-bombed on Yelp.
The next day, Monday, Oct. 21, Trump went to a town on the outskirts of Asheville, North Carolina, which was particularly devastated by Hurricane Helene. Trump even held his press conference right in front of visible piles of wreckage of former buildings.
But not enough energy was spent on addressing the needs of the neighborhood he was a guest in. Instead, North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards attempted to create a moment of levity by turning the topic back to Trump’s McDonald’s stunt. “For those of you who who did not get to see it … I also own McDonald’s restaurants, I know that you perfected your skills behind the counter a day or so ago. And it was my honor to present President Trump with the French Fries Certification Pin,” Edwards said.
For one, Edwards outed himself as someone possessing incredible wealth by saying he owns a few McDonald’s restaurants as he’s in front of a community which could desperately use the help. Instead, a pin for another millionaire. And Trump seemed to not particularly care. He smirked, showed the pin, and put it in his pocket. “Thank you very much, that’s really nice,” he said, then moved back behind the podium. Is a “French Fries Certification Pin” even a thing for normal McDonald’s workers? Probably not.
This moment is the campaign in a nutshell
When the press conference was more on topic, Trump began falsely saying that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent all their money on “illegal migrants” and left none for disaster relief.
The money FEMA spends at the border and the money FEMA spends on disaster relief are completely separate and are even funded separately. One of the people who went to lengths to debunk Trump’s claims is North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards—the very same man who gave Trump the french fry pin. He wrote on his website, “FEMA has NOT diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid.“
Of course, Edwards did not bring this up while he had Trump in-person, right next to him. It was all smiles, thank you’s, “God bless you”s, and so-called French Fries Certification Pins.
There’s something rather darkly perfect about the French Fries Certification Pin moment, so much so that it feels like a moment out of a TV show. It’s Donald Trump and his campaign in a nutshell. Most of the communities deeply affected by Hurricane Helene are conservative. The devastation of the lives of his base is right there behind him, and Trump barely acknowledges it. Instead, he gets an award for something he did in a completely different state.
“Tone deaf” doesn’t even seem to get at the extent of the insult. But it’s also a gross reminder of what campaigns in America have become. Points of disaster become nothing more than a photo opportunity. Besides, Trump is a man of means—but he takes his pin and walks away. Edwards thanks him for getting dust on his shoes.
