Customers at the McDonald's Trump visited applaud him for making ‘contact with the little guy’
A McDonald's location in Feasterville, Pennsylvania has garnered national attention after former President Donald Trump visited the fast food chain on Sunday. Fox News Digital spoke with customers about their reaction to his visit and the backlash it has received in recent days.
Trump spent part of his Sunday afternoon making french fries and serving food from a drive-thru window at the Pennsylvania McDonald's. The former president spoke with people in the drive-thru, including members of the press and photographers, as thousands of Trump supporters surrounded the McDonald's restaurant.
William, a local of Feasterville, who donned a Trump hat for his interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, said he loved that the former president visited the fast food chain, adding "most people had a great reaction to it."
"The whole reason I'm coming here is because Donald Trump was here," he said. "I haven't been here for years, and I figured I'm back now."
Miguel, a longtime resident of Feasterville who said he lives across the street from the McDonald's, told Fox News Digital that while he won't be voting for Trump, the visit showed the former president cares about the American people.
"Any kind of publicity is good," he said. "It was good that he was here. Okay, they were closed that day, so there were no business transactions, but it was a good show up for Trump."
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Joe, a third local from Feasterville told Fox News Digital it was "outstanding" that Trump came to town and worked at the local McDonald's.
"A lot of people are happy with it," he said. "It's good to have a president who seems down to earth and can make contact with the little guy."
"They were hoping he would stop in the local tavern and have a cocktail with us," he added. "But yeah, they were happy to see him."
The Bucks County McDonald's had its Yelp reviews disabled after it received a bombardment of politicized comments in response to the visit, CBS reported. Yelp placed an "unusual activity alert" on the McDonald's location and decided to block any new reviews on its Yelp page to ensure that user comments reflect "genuine, firsthand" experiences with the establishment, the company told CBS MoneyWatch. But, around 145 new reviews were already posted prior to Yelp's limiting comments.
"When we see the activity dramatically decrease or stop, our moderators will clean up the page so reviews describing only firsthand consumer experiences are reflected," Yelp told CBS.
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The owner of the Feasterville McDonald's shared a statement with Fox News Digital over the weekend, 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," owner and operator Derek Giacomantonio said. "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."
"As a former crew member, I can attest this job is more than burgers and fries, but a meaningful pathway to opportunity," Giacomantonio added. "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."
The visit sparked particular attention because Vice President Kamala Harris has claimed that she worked at McDonald's while she got her undergraduate degree in the 1980s. Trump has repeatedly claimed Harris is lying about working in the fast-food industry.
"I've now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala at McDonald's," Trump said through the drive-thru window as he handed out orders.
"I've really wanted to do this all my life. And now I'm going to do it because she didn't do it," he added.
Trump also claimed he spoke with McDonald's about Harris' claims that she worked at the fast-food chain.
"She shouldn't lie about it," Trump said. "McDonald's confirmed four times that she never worked here. But, let's not talk about that. It's an amazing business. It's an amazing country. And we're going to make America greater than ever before."
Harris has not provided proof she worked there, but McDonald's has said it doesn't have employment records that date back that far. The Harris-Walz campaign has also rebuked Trump's claims.
"Vice President Harris and I grew up middle class, we understand that. She actually worked at a McDonald's," Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, said on "The View."
Trump critics have also taken heat online for trying to downplay the McDonald's visit as "staged" while supporters highlighted the obvious security measures taken for the former president, who has had multiple assassination attempts against him.
Fox News Digital reached out to McDonald's for comment.
Fox News' Stepheny Price, Yael Halon and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.