By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland
ATLANTA/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – With the U.S. presidential election little more than 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.
Both candidates were scrambling for votes in the most competitive states, with Harris appealing to early voters in Georgia and Trump campaigning in Pennsylvania ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, Trump removed his suit jacket, put on a black and yellow apron and proceeded to cook batches of french fries, something he said he had wanted to do “all my life.”
He dipped wire baskets of potatoes in sizzling oil before salting them and handing them out to customers through the restaurant’s drive-through window. 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 that Harris never worked there but has not provided evidence to back that up.
Harris spokesman Ian Sams told Reuters that 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.”
Harris, who marked her 60th birthday on Sunday while campaigning in Georgia, participated in two worship services outside of Atlanta on Sunday.
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.” Harris said she had checked off a “whole big one” on her bucket list when Stevie Wonder sang “Happy Birthday” for her.
Harris, who was raised in the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, earlier spoke at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia.
There, she drew a sharp contrast to the harsh and divisive 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 said. “At this moment, our country is at a crossroads and where we go is up to us.”
After her events, Harris recorded an interview with civil rights leader Al Sharpton that will air later on Sunday. Trump was scheduled to hold a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before attending the Pittsburgh Steelers game on Sunday evening.
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.
The former president is seeking to take advantage of what he felt was an improved position for him in opinion polls that show a deadlocked race. Some voters already have sent mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize on Election Day among battleground states.
On Monday, Harris said she will campaign with Republican former Representative Liz Cheney in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is supporting Harris, acknowledged on NBC’S “Meet the Press” that the race in his state is tight.
“We understand that this election likely will come down to tens of thousands of votes … you’ve got to compete for every vote,” Shapiro said.
(This story has been corrected to clarify that it was Harris’ spokesperson Ian Sams who said, “All he knows how to do is lie”, and not Harris, in paragraphs 7 and 8)
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Writing by James Oliphant; editing by Rami Ayyub and Chizu Nomiyama)
