Trump hands out french fries in Pennsylvania, Harris visits Georgia churches in swing-state appeals

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By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland

ATLANTA/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -With the U.S. presidential election just over two weeks away, Democrat Kamala Harris visited two churches on Sunday while her Republican rival, Donald Trump, visited another kind of American temple: a McDonald’s, where he again accused Harris of lying about having previously worked at the fast-food chain.

Both candidates were scrambling for votes in the most competitive states, with Harris, the U.S. vice president, appealing to early voters in Georgia and Trump, the former president, campaigning in Pennsylvania ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Harris highlighted the heroism of those who responded to Hurricane Helene, which caused deaths and destruction in Florida earlier this month. She drew a contrast between her vision for America and the harsh rhetoric of the current political climate, although she did not mention Trump by name. 

“At this point across our nation, what we do see are some trying to deepen division among us, spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos,” she told thousands of congregants at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in Stonecrest, Georgia.

Some measured the strength of a leader as “who you beat down” instead of being guided by “kindness and love,” she said, urging congregants to vote for a more compassionate future.

Harris was more direct in an interview with MSNBC when asked about Trump’s comments at an earlier rally in Pennsylvania in which he called her a “shit vice president,” telling civil rights leader Al Sharpton: “The American people deserve so much better.” At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, Trump removed his suit jacket, put on a black and yellow apron and cooked batches of french fries, something he said he had wanted to do “all my life.” 

The former president dipped wire baskets of potatoes in sizzling oil before salting them and handing them out to some of his supporters through the drive-through window of the restaurant, which had been closed to the general public. Thousands of people lined the street opposite the restaurant to watch.

“I like this job,” said Trump, whose adoration for fast food has been well chronicled. “I’m having a lot of fun here.” 

Trump has said the McDonald’s visit was intended in part as a jab at Harris, who says she worked at the fast-food chain during her college years in California. Trump claims Harris never worked there but has provided no evidence to back that up.

Harris spokesperson Ian Sams said the stunt was a sign of the real-estate mogul’s desperation.

“All he knows how to do is lie,” he said. “He can’t understand what it’s like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it.”

The Harris campaign said Trump’s visit also belied his opposition to an increase in the federal minimum wage and his support for a rule that could make it more difficult for workers to win legal claims against the parent company if a franchise owner violated minimum-wage and overtime laws.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”

Harris, who was raised in the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, marked her 60th birthday on Sunday while campaigning outside of Atlanta. 

At Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Georgia, music icon Stevie Wonder performed, singing his hit “Higher Ground” and a version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”

Asked about polls showing a lack of enthusiasm for her candidacy among Black men who have been a reliable voting bloc for Democrats, Harris told Sharpton she was working to earn their votes as well.

“There’s this narrative about what kind of support we are receiving from Black men that is just not panning out in reality,” Harris said. “Because why would Black men be any different than any other demographic of voter? They expect that you earn their vote.”

Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs to repeat President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia.

At a campaign event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Trump extended birthday wishes to Harris, drawing boos from his crowd.

“Happy birthday, and many more, and I mean it,” Trump said, although he continued to criticize Harris’s policies and speculating that his opponent may have “a cognitive problem.”

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper and Jonathan Allen; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Chizu Nomiyama and Lincoln Feast)