Trump's french fries comment miscaptioned as call for tallow switch
By SLENA Fact-Check
1 November 2024
A screenshot of a video from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's Oct. 20 visit to a McDonald's in Philadelphia is being shared online with captions falsely suggesting he urged the fast-food chain to fry with tallow and avoid seed oils.
Just weeks before the election, Trump made the appearance in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which he said was intended in part as a jab at his rival Kamala Harris, who says she worked at McDonald's during her college years. Trump claims Harris never worked there, but has provided no supporting evidence.
A screengrab of local news footage showing Trump standing next to a McDonald’s employee has been shared on Facebook with the caption: “I was talking to RFK Jr, you know he endorsed me, he’s a big Trump guy now. MAHA they call it, Make America Healthy Again. He was telling me these seed oils in the fryers are toxic.”
It goes on: “We want them OUT! They used to be made in beautiful tallow. We’re going to bring the tallow back folks.”
However, there is no evidence Trump made any such remark during his McDonald’s visit.
The earliest appearance of the miscaptioned screenshot was in a post on X by an account that describes its owner as a “Health propagandist” and links to an app for finding foods which do not contain seed oils.
The original dialogue between Trump and the McDonald’s employee shown in the screenshot can be heard in footage uploaded to YouTube by local ABC affiliate WFAA.
“But I do like the french fries where I’ll be working. I listened to Kamala. She said: ‘It was so hot. It was so hot; it was such a tough job.’ But don’t you have a man that’s been doing it for many years at the french fries?” Trump said (timestamp at 00:59).
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to comment on the miscaptioned social media post.
Verdict
False. Donald Trump did not make a remark about seed oils in video footage of his visit to a Philadelphia McDonald’s.