Controversy Surrounding Kamala Harris’s Past Employment at McDonald’s: The Root’s Exclusive Interview with Gov Wes Moore

The Root’s Exclusive Interview with Gov Wes Moore

In a recent attempt to discredit Vice President Kamala Harris, conservative news outlet The Washington Free Beacon dug up information about her summer job at McDonald’s during her college years. The Free Beacon questioned why Harris had not mentioned this job in her job applications, books, or biographies until her 2020 Presidential campaign.

Harris confirmed her time at McDonald’s during an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” in April 2024, where she recalled working at a California McDonald’s restaurant during the summer after her first year in college. Despite this confirmation, the Free Beacon’s editor, Peter J. Hasson, highlighted the absence of this job on Harris’s resume and job application a year after graduating college.

The Free Beacon’s post received over 13 million views, but many commenters dismissed the attempt to discredit Harris as a reach. Columnist Elie Mystal shared his own experience of not including his early business ventures on his CV, while former Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger pointed out that he also did not list his fast-food job on his resume.

Critics of the Free Beacon’s reporting highlighted the challenges of condensing work experience into a resume and questioned the relevance of Harris’s summer job to her current position as Vice President. Most commenters expressed confusion over why the Free Beacon chose to make a scandal out of such a trivial detail, with some even suggesting that the outlet’s journalistic integrity was at stake.