The New York Times is being criticized after it backstopped Kamala Harris’ claim that she once worked at McDonald’s, failing to inform readers that their source was a surrogate for her campaign.
Former President Donald J. Trump drew national attention to the Democrat nominee’s sketchy story that she was employed by the iconic fast food chain while a young woman by putting on an apron and working the fry station and drive-thru window at a Pennsylvania location, triggering a leftist meltdown.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala” at McDonald’s pic.twitter.com/RMeivIPPd0
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 20, 2024
Trump contends that Harris is lying about her time spent under the Golden Arches and no proof has yet emerged to validate that particular part of her biography, but the once-venerable paper insisted that it’s the truth in a report stating “Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that Ms. Harris never worked at the fast-food chain. Her campaign and a friend say she did.”
The story relied on the confirmation of Wanda Kagan “who had known Ms. Harris as a teenager and remained in touch with the family for years afterward.”
For real: the greatest fact check of all time pic.twitter.com/A5lkL759zl
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) October 21, 2024
“Answering questions by email, Ms. Kagan said that Ms. Harris’s mother, who died in 2009, had told Ms. Kagan about the summer job years ago. Ms. Kagan said she herself had also worked at one of the fast-food chain’s many franchises in those years,” according to the Times.
“‘That’s what us regular folks did,’ Ms. Kagan wrote. Still, she indicated that it had not been a frequent topic of conversation for Ms. Harris. ‘We didn’t talk much about our McDonald’s days back then,’ she said,” the paper reported.
What the Times declined to mention is that Kagan has been involved in the vice president’s campaign as a vocal surrogate, including appearing on MSNBC during the Democratic National Convention, co-hosting the “Survivors for Kamala Harris” online event and visiting the White House to celebrate the candidate’s 60th birthday,” the Washington Free Beacon pointed out.
“It’s an emotional and chilling ride, and I’m just overwhelmed with happiness for my friend, and I’m happy to be alive to be able to witness her now fighting for the people of America,” Kagan gushed during her appearance on the left-wing cable network.
The outlet’s investigation of the questionable part of Harris’ employment history cast doubt on the veracity of her Mickey D’s claims, digging up a 1987 job application that Harris made to the Alameda County district attorney’s office that asked for a detailed history of every job that she’s held for the last 10 years. McDonald’s was not on the list.
NEW: The Harris campaign has given shifting accounts of her “summer job” at McDonald’s.
So we looked for evidence of it. She doesn’t mention it in her memoirs, & did not list it on a 1987 job application we obtained. more w/ @SaysSimonson @AndrewKerrNC https://t.co/GAWRaQ2s3O pic.twitter.com/EyUP8bfj33
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 29, 2024
The Free Beacon first brought attention to the “shifting narratives” about Harris’ alleged job at McDonald’s. The Times did not acknowledge the changing story from the Harris campaign and a pro-Kamala super PAC about the alleged college job.
“First, they claimed she held the job to pay her way through college at Howard University by working at McDonald’s. Then, they said Harris worked there in the summer of 1983, after her freshman year of college, for extra spending money,” the Free Beacon wrote, noting that the Times report did not acknowledge the change.
The outlet also criticized the Times for omitting the fact that Kagan is a “full-throated Harris supporter who has appeared alongside the vice president at several campaign events.”
“On Monday evening, Kagan co-hosted a campaign event for Harris called ‘Survivors for Kamala Harris.’ Kagan has been regularly socializing or campaigning with Harris since April, a review of her social media accounts shows,” the outlet reported, providing several examples of Kagan’s advocacy for Harris.
“The Times did not indicate that Kagan and Harris remain close friends and did not say that the former is now a fierce political supporter of the latter,” the Free Beacon stated, calling out the Times for its lack of transparency.
“This was a thoroughly reported and edited piece of independent journalism. The Times stands behind it completely,” a spokesperson for the paper told Fox News Digital.
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