I’m still trying to figure out what point former President Donald Trump was trying to make by “working” the drive-thru at a Bucks County McDonald’s.
One of the time-honored traditions of any political campaign is the “Politicians: They’re Just Like Us” photo op.
Usually, that photo op involves said politician doing something that shows that he or she realizes that Americans are going through some things. It’s generally not cleaning a bathroom, although I hope to see that someday. But it’s often something like packing boxes at a food pantry, helping with hurricane relief, working on an assembly line or, in the case of President Joe Biden, walking a picket line with union workers.
Last Sunday, former President Donald Trump came to Feasterville, Bucks County for his “Politicians: They’re Just Like Us” photo op and served supporters at a drive-thru at the McDonald’s restaurant on Street Road. He slung Big Macs and fries to selected supporters who said such things as “Don’t let America end up like Brazil!”
Well, at least they weren’t talking about eating pets. That would have been awkward.
The idea behind the appearance, which makes me scratch my head a little, was to illustrate that he was more of a man of the people because he had worked in fast food, unlike his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Granted, Harris did work at a McDonald’s in Alameda, California during the summer of her freshman year at Howard University, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story?
But the fact that Trump’s campaign has chosen to make this a campaign issue instead of the campaign issue that was staring right at them with the McDonald’s appearance shows that there aren’t a lot of very stable geniuses working there.
Don’t get me wrong. Did I find much about Trump’s attempt to be a man of the people by feeding preselected supporters burgers and fries that my sources say the owner of McDonald’s has yet to be paid for amusing? Yeah. This is someone who has probably never had to man a French fry basket or mow the front yard in his entire life. Working the grill in a suit and tie is on brand for him.
But I also found it a missed opportunity to talk about the real problems that McDonald’s workers face, the biggestbeing the minimum wage and how no one can live on it.
Right now, the minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $7.25. That is also the federal minimum wage, which tells you where the billions appropriated through the federal budget AREN’T going.
If you work 40 hours a week on a job that pays you $7.25 an hour, you’ll earn $290 a week before taxes. Since the average monthly rent in Philadelphia is $1,703 and the average rent in Pennsylvania overall is $1,550 a month, there’s no way you could afford a place to live on $7.25 an hour unless you worked around the clock.
And that’s just rent. We haven’t even gotten into groceries, utilities, or clothing. Having seen how expensive shopping at Old Navy has become, don’t rip your pants. Just saying.
While New Jersey and Delaware have both raised their minimum wages, Pennsylvania’s legislature has steadfastly clung to the fallacy that people should be able to survive on $290 a week before taxes. Congress has also made no movement toward raising the minimum wage, which isn’t a surprise to anyone who has seen them have problems with the little things like, well, the federal budget.
But if Trump had taken a few minutes out of his schedule of saying stuff that benefits no one but himself to at least discuss a raise in the minimum wage while at a McDonald’s, he might have done something beneficial.
Which is probably why this photo op remained just that.
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