Last week a photo began circulating on social media that claimed to show a young Kamala Harris, the US vice president and Democratic presidential candidate, dressed in a McDonald’s uniform. The claim comes less than two weeks to the US presidential election.
The photo quickly captured online attention amid a partisan debate over the accuracy of Harris’ repeated claim that she worked at a McDonald’s as a student. Not only Harris but also her campaign has been using this claim ahead of the election. While Harris has been claiming that she worked in McDonald’s, the photograph that is being widely circulated is not authentic. The said photo is completely fake.
No Real Proof
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While there was no strong evidence to suggest Harris was lying, the absence of confirming proof led her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, and his supporters to argue that Harris fabricated her story about working at McDonald’s.
Naturally, the sudden emergence of the photograph seemed too timely to be mere coincidence. It was, in fact, fabricated—a composite image digitally edited to swap the original person’s face with that of Harris (or someone who looked like her).
Using a reverse image search on TinEye, the original, unaltered photograph was found.
The original photo was found on a family photo website and featured a young woman named Suzanne Bernier. According to the caption, she worked as a shift manager at McDonald’s. While no date was provided, the photo seems to be from the early 1980s.
The photograph emerged as McDonald’s finally revealed last week why it cannot provide records to confirm Harris’ statement that she worked at one of their restaurants in the 1980s.
Even McDonald’s Can’t Prove Harris’ Claim
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In a memo sent to McDonald’s USA franchisees, the company confirmed that although Harris has “fond memories” of working at a Alameda County location, neither the company nor its franchisees maintain records for all positions going back to the early 1980s.
A copy of the internal memo was posted on social media by an anonymous McDonald’s franchise, and was later confirmed by the Wall Street Journal.
Harris said that she worked at McDonald’s during her college years at a 2019 rally with fast food workers.
In April 2024, during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Harris repeated her claim that she “did fries” at the restaurant. The Harris campaign later clarified that she worked at the Central Avenue McDonald’s in Alameda, California, during the summer of 1983, after her freshman year at Howard University.
However, her campaign has not been able to provide any proof to support the vice president’s claim, such as a photograph, a pay stub, or a former co-worker who can verify her employment.
Hence, the photo being circulated on social media is completely fake.
