Things have been different this year.
Typically an October surprise is a story that is dropped shortly before election day that is very damaging to a candidate. It’s meant to derail them on the 23rd hour.
However, there was a very different October surprise this year and it was Trump that did it.
The former President took some time to serve fries at a McDonald’s and met with supporters.
The event was huge and made him look incredibly personable.
Even his tie matched the colors of McDonald’s.
BREAKING: Trump working at McDonald’s. $mcd
pic.twitter.com/qNnkKwr0Dm— 100x (@AmericanMan2099) October 20, 2024
Trump is now serving customers at the McDonald’s drive-thru. You couldn’t make a TV show this good. pic.twitter.com/J9mCAHSY7k
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 20, 2024
People loved and the media lost their minds.
SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly and other media figures have wasted no time dismantling the latest round of hand-wringing from the Left over Donald Trump’s unexpected cameo at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, where he reportedly worked the drive-thru and fry station for a brief 15 minutes. Legacy media outlets such as “Rolling Stone,” “Newsweek,” and “CNN” have labeled the stunt “bizarre” and “staged,” but critics are firing back, arguing that the backlash says more about media bias than the event itself.
The blowback from the media, however, quickly became a target of mockery across the internet. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was quick to throw some shade, sarcastically posting on X (formerly Twitter), “Woodward and Bernstein who? Looks like @Newsweek just wrapped up the Pulitzer for investigative journalism. Next up: Rumors Santa may not be real…”
Woodward and Bernstein who? Looks like @Newsweek just wrapped up the Pulitzer for investigative journalism. Next up. Rumors Santa may not be real…. https://t.co/vaXvUAYCqF
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) October 21, 2024
Megyn Kelly chimed in with her own sharp critique, reposting a sarcastic comment from a user that nailed the absurdity of the media outrage: “Wait, he wasn’t actually hired as the new fry guy?” The point was clear—if anyone thought this was anything but a lighthearted campaign event, they were seriously missing the mark.
Even Cenk Uygur, a host known for his progressive takes on “The Young Turks,” found himself calling out the Left’s overreaction. “This is how you lose credibility,” Uygur wrote on social media, adding that the photo-op was “a home run.” Uygur, despite his opposition to Trump, recognized the optics: Trump came off as relatable, making a connection with ordinary Americans. “If you can’t see that, you’re totally blind,” Uygur concluded.
Some in the press called Trump’s McDonald’s photo-op bizarre. This is how you lose credibility. That was a home run photo-op. He looked like a real person there, connecting with the average American. If you can’t see that, you’re totally blind.
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) October 21, 2024
Other right-leaning commentators had a field day. Mollie Hemingway of *The Federalist* joked, “Where would we be without corporate media telling us that Donald Trump is *not* an actual McDonald’s employee?” Meanwhile, Matt Walsh from *The Daily Wire* joined the pile-on, tweeting, “This is false. Trump applied online two weeks ago, got the job, and showed up for his shift. But my sources say he’ll have to transition to part-time at Kroger—those McDonald’s hours don’t fit his campaign schedule.”
Not content with the initial reaction, “Newsweek” doubled down by publishing a follow-up piece pointing out that the McDonald’s in question had failed its last health inspection. “Employees not having ‘hands clean and properly washed,’” their social media post read, adding fuel to an already strange fire.
But that only provided more fodder for Trump supporters. Ben Shapiro of “The Daily Wire” put it bluntly, suggesting that the media’s outrage over Trump’s McDonald’s appearance reveals more about their fear of his relatability than anything else. “This drives them crazy because it shows Trump connects with regular Americans,” Shapiro wrote. “It’s authentic—something Kamala Harris can’t seem to pull off without a scripted playbook.”
Folks it the October surprise that the media never saw coming.
