The glare of the presidential campaign trail is shining more brightly on McDonald’s (MCD) than almost any other company this year.
And it’s clearly not abating with Donald Trump expected to make a campaign stop at the popular chain this Sunday in Pennsylvania, according to a source familiar with the planning.
“I’m going to work the French fry job for about a half an hour,” Trump recently told a rally crowd as he previewed the visit. “I want to see how it is.”
The likely stop was first reported by CNN and comes as the former President continues to try and get traction for a baseless claim that Vice President Kamala Harris, in spite of discussing her summer job at the restaurant for years, never actually worked there.
The visit is also just the latest pull in a tug of war as both campaigns look to be associated with the golden arches. The fact that it’s an issue at all is a reflection of the chain’s unmatched resonance, with the company previously estimating it is patronized by nearly 9 in 10 Americans at least once a year.
The restaurant is a perennial focus for presidential campaigns. This year is no different, between a recent Bill Clinton stop in Georgia where he hugged a McDonald’s worker to the promised visit from Trump.
The attention is unlikely to impact the company’s bottom line, experts have previously told Yahoo Finance, with the company tallying up a long record of navigating ever-changing political winds.
And McDonald’s stock also reflects the limited downsides of all the attention with traders recently pushing it to a new all-time high, topping $310.
Representatives for McDonald’s itself didn’t respond to requests for comment from Yahoo Finance this week on an array of issues, from the impact of the campaign trail attention to the Vice President’s employment history there.
Charges and countercharges
Vice President Harris helped to first raise McDonald’s as a campaign trail issue this year when (as she has for years) she brought up her time working at the chain and even included a mention in a campaign ad.
It was a summer job for Harris that she said helped her better understand less well-off Americans.
“Some of the people I worked with were raising families on that paycheck,” she noted to a North Carolina crowd.
It’s a relatable anecdote for millions of Americans. According to the company, 1 in 8 Americans have worked at a McDonald’s at some point in their life.
Trump’s response has been to charge again and again and again that Harris never actually worked there.
“If I work there for 10 minutes, I’ll have worked there for longer than her,” he told a recent crowd in Reno, N.V., in just one of many examples.
It’s a claim from Trump that appears to have begun with a Washington Free Beacon story that noted how Harris’s stint at McDonald’s didn’t appear on her resume. Trump has then twisted that detail beyond recognition to now flatly claiming she never worked there.
Harris has chosen to largely ignore Trump’s taunts so far, but the general topic has spilled over into the wider culture and sparked renewed media fascination.
Recent stories have delved into subjects ranging from leadership lessons learned working at the chain (Washington Post) to how a stint at the chain is now a “badge of honor” for high-powered officials (Wall Street Journal) to even how much presidential campaigns spend there.
Campaign trail orders
With or without a Trump visit, McDonald’s is at the very least getting plenty of business associated with the political attention.
Trump himself has continued his habit of McDonald’s consumption, putting two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches with cheese atop his requests during a recent stop at a college football game, reported AL.com.
All told, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance records, Trump’s campaign has spent roughly $31,000 at the chain since January 2023.
And Bill Clinton’s recent stop came during a visit to Georgia to support Harris and was memorialized by an aide with a video that showed the former president getting a hug from an employee.
“This is Bill y’all,” the woman said, after first appearing to confuse him with current President Joe Biden.
The moment was a throwback to an earlier era, when Clinton’s embrace of McDonald’s was even more unabashed. The former President loved the chain to the point that a plaque even reportedly adorned the Little Rock, Ark., location he frequented during his time as governor.
“I’ve had the best time the last two days,” Clinton then joked at a rally with supporters in Columbus, Ga., on Monday.
What’s unclear is what the (now-vegan) Clinton ordered, if anything.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance