Did McDonald's issue a statement on October 20, 2024, that stated Kamala Harris had never worked at a McDonald's franchise? No, that's not true: McDonald's never issued such a statement. Instead, an October 20, 2024, internal memo attributed to McDonald's acknowledges, without refuting, "Vice President Harris's fond memories working under the Arches."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on October 20, 2024. It said:
🚨BREAKING: McDonald's just went on the record today and officially put out a statement saying that Kamala Harris NEVER worked at McDonald's. This means that Kamala Harris lied about her resume on top of lying about her heritage and her grandmothers identity.
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 22 16:28:16 2024 UTC)
The statement in question was actually an internal memo "intended for the McDonald's USA System" that was posted publicly on X (archived here) by @McFranchisee -- an account that identifies themself in their bio as an owner/operator of a McDonald's franchise -- on October 20, 2024. The internal memo (pictured below) does not appear on the public-facing press release page (archived here) of the McDonald's website.
(Source: X screenshot taken on Tue Oct 22 16:19:07 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to McDonald's media relations team to verify if this memo is authentic and will update this article if we receive a response.
The statement posted by @McFranchisee clarified that the campaign stop was not an endorsement of former President Donald Trump from McDonald's corporate -- which as a rule does not endorse candidates for elected office. The statement was issued after Trump visited a McDonald's franchise in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, where he made some french fries and served people at a drive-through. The visit was planned in advance, and the restaurant was closed to the public in anticipation of his visit.
There is nothing in the statement posted by @McFranchisee that counters Vice President Kamala Harris' assertion (archived here) that she worked at McDonald's as a student. The statement clarifies that they would not have a record of Harris' employment, but refers to a statistic McDonald's announced in 2023 -- boasting that one in eight Americans are current or former McDonald's crew members. The relevant portion of the memo states:
As we've seen, our brand has been a fixture of conversation this election cycle. While we've not sought this, it's a testament to how much McDonald's resonates with so many Americans.
McDonald's does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President. We are not red or blue -- we are golden.
Though we are not a political brand, we've been proud to hear former President Trump's love for McDonald's and Vice President Harris's fond memories working under the Arches. While we and our franchisees don't have records for all positions dating back to the early '80s, what makes '1 in 8' so powerful is the shared experience so many Americans have had.
Lead Stories published a fact check debunking a similar but earlier claim that McDonald's corporate said "they have no record whatsoever" of Harris working there.
At the time this was written, USA Today had reviewed the same claim.
More Lead Stories fact checks of claims surrounding Kamala Harris are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.
