Within the Nineteen Eighties, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris labored at McDonald’s whereas she acquired her undergraduate diploma.
Harris has made this declare repeatedly over time, and a number of respected information shops have reported on the story. However, apart from Harris’ testimony itself, there isn’t any proof (resembling a photograph, employment file, or affirmation from a pal or member of the family) to independently confirm the declare. We have reached out to Harris’ marketing campaign and McDonald’s and we’ll replace this report when, or if, we study extra.
On a number of events all through U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ political profession, she has referred to as consideration to her work historical past — specifically, an alleged job at McDonald’s — in an try to attach with low-wage staff.
On Aug. 10, 2024, for instance, her presidential marketing campaign launched a brand new video commercial through which she claims she labored on the fast-food restaurant “whereas she acquired her diploma,” presumably in reference to the
Just a few days later, The Washington Publish reported on the ad, writing “Harris is making her stint on the Golden Arches part of her story.” Different shops, resembling The New York Times, CNN, Politico, and ABC News, additionally
Nevertheless, not everybody on the web believed Harris. “There aren’t any information or credible sources indicating that she labored at McDonald’s,”
Except for the above-mentioned information reviews, there was no tangible proof of Harris working at McDonald’s as a university scholar. We reached out to Harris’ marketing campaign, in addition to McDonald’s headquarters, searching for such proof — which may embody photographs or movies of her working on the restaurant, employment information or bodily objects resembling a uniform or identify tag. We additionally seemed for public interviews by mates or relations of Harris’ to substantiate the story, with no luck.
We are going to replace this report once we uncover proof to independently confirm or debunk Harris’ story.
Harris Has Repeated the McDonald’s Story
Lengthy earlier than her 2024 presidential marketing campaign, Harris talked concerning the alleged work expertise “doing french fries and ice cream.” In 2019, for instance, after talking at a Service Workers Worldwide Union (SEIU) rally, she posted on X a video of the occasion with the caption:
I labored at @McDonalds once I was a scholar, doing french fries and ice cream. There wasn’t a household counting on me to pay the payments — however that is the fact for too many staff at the moment. Proud to face with @SEIU at the moment for livable wages and a secure working atmosphere.
Flash ahead to her time as vp, and, in April 2024, Harris talked about the alleged gig throughout an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show.” When assistant host Ross Mathews informed her he as soon as labored the register, drive-thru and grill at McDonald’s, Harris stated: “I did fries, after which I did the cashier.”
In an August 2024 X post, she once more claimed she labored at McDonald’s in faculty “to earn spending cash.”
(X consumer @KamalaHarris)
Different members of the Democratic Get together have repeated the anecdote, too. Throughout a speech on the 2024 Democratic Nationwide Conference on Aug. 21, as an example, former President Invoice Clinton stated, “When [Harris] was younger, she labored at McDonald’s, and she or he greeted each particular person with that thousand-watt smile and stated, ‘How can I allow you to?’ Now she’s on the pinnacle of energy and she or he’s nonetheless asking, ‘How can I allow you to?'”
In sum, till we uncover additional proof to corroborate or disprove Harris’ story, we rated this declare “Analysis In Progress.”
