Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is being mocked on social media after showing off a McDonald’s fry pin that he received while surveying Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina Monday.
Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards joined Trump at the event in Swannanoa and gave him the “french fry certification” award for a campaign stop at Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Sunday, where he worked the fry station in a staged event. It was an effort to jab at Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in the race.
Harris said she worked at McDonald’s during her summer break from college and often shares the experience on the campaign trail to highlight her connection with the middle class. However, Trump has accused Harris of lying about her work experience, including pointing out that it was not included in her résumé.
“Now I’ve worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
Edwards said Monday that he’s a local franchise owner and wanted to recognize Trump for the work he did in the drive-thru.
“For those of you who did not get to see it, I offered because, you know, I also own McDonald’s restaurants; I know that you perfected your skills behind the counter a day or so ago. And it was my honor to present President Trump with the French Fries Certification Pin,” Edwards said while presenting the pin to Trump.
“Thank you very much; that’s really nice,” Trump said, holding up the pin and showing it off to the cameras. A video of the display was shared by @Acyn on X on Monday afternoon and was viewed nearly 3 million times by Tuesday morning, drawing criticism from many viewers.
Although many viewers made fun of how minute the award was, some thought it made Trump appear like an everyday person.
“Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Joe Biden received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Kamala Harris received Time Person of the Year. Donald Trump got a French Fry certification pin,” one user said, sharing a screenshot of Trump holding up the pin.
“Exactly, man of the people. You just cooked yourself, hahaha,” replied Drew Hernandez, host of Drew Hernandez Live.
“There are folks who work for minimum wage at McDonald’s locations around the country that can’t get a pat on the back for a job well done, but this guy’s out here giving a conservative pin to a felon who couldn’t get hired to work there. We live in the worst times,” one user wrote. “He wouldn’t even be allowed to keep that in prison. It’s a weapon,” another viewer added.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz emphasized the fact that Trump is a convicted felon who, though he has deemed himself a defender of the Second Amendment in the past, cannot legally own a gun himself.
Walz spoke on the daytime talk show “The View” on Oct. 21, and Joy Behar asked him to expound on why his National Rifle Association rating has dropped from an A to an F in recent times.
She jokingly congratulated him about his NRA rating dropping as the organization has defined an A-worthy candidate as a “solidly pro-gun candidate” and a recipient of an F-rating as “a consistent anti-gun candidate who always opposes gun owners’ rights,” according to The Trace, an organization dedicated to shining a light on America’s gun violence crisis.
Though both Walz and Kamala Harris have both publicly spoken on their pride in gun ownership, the vice presidential candidate did nod to the fact that his grade with the NRA dropped due to his stance following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School mass in 2012, leading to the death of 20 children and six adults in the Newtown, Connecticut, school.
“The idea that you can protect the Second Amendment, which the vice president and I obviously do, but our first responsibility is to our kids and their safety so they’re not shot dead in schools,” he stated.
Walz stressed that both he and Harris are longtime gun owners.
“First time, maybe, on the Democratic ticket in modern times,” he said. “The Republican nominee can’t pass a background check to get a gun.”
clearly illegal,” UCLA Law School political science professor Rick Hasen stated in the Election Law Blog about Musk’s giveaway.
While Trump has always positioned himself and his campaign as strong backers of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the 45th president of the United States is a convicted felon who cannot own guns.
A Poynter Institute analysis of Trump’s gun rights found that he told the Washington Times in 2012 that he had a concealed carry permit in New York City and owned “a couple of different guns,” and he subsequently told a French publication that he “always” carries a weapon, but under federal law, his felony convictions mean he can no longer possess guns.
It is currently unclear whether Trump does still own firearms.
In 2023, he did visit a gun store in South Carolina, Poynter reported, but Trump reportedly did not buy any firearms.
Though he was found guilty on all felony counts against him this spring, there are ways Trump could restore his right to own a gun.
Those convicted of a felony in New York can have their gun rights restored in some cases, an attorney with New York law firm Rosenblum Law, Jobin Joseph, told PolitiFact.
Because Trump’s 34 felony counts were all Class E, deeming his offenses less severe crimes, he would be eligible for gun rights restoration.
He could apply for a “Certificate of Relief from Disabilities” to gain his right to possess firearms, according to Poynter.
This a route he could take only as long as his felony charges are considered part of the same criminal occurrence.
Trump was convicted of his charges in New York but lives in Florida, meaning he is restricted from having a gun under Florida’s state laws as well.
Trump was not convicted of these felony counts in Florida, so he could not regain his gun rights under that state’s law.
