The Independent v. The Washington Times: MAGADonald's Shirts

 

This past Sunday, Donald Trump served fries and worked the drive-thru window of a Pennsylvania McDonald's as part of a campaign photo-op. On Monday, the Trump campaign announced they would be selling t-shirts with a photo of Donald Trump waving from the drive-thru window with the word "MAGADonald’s" underneath. I will examine how different news outlets covered this announcement by looking at articles from The Independent and The Washington Times.

The Independent: "Trump cashes in on McDonald’s stunt with new ‘MAGADonald’s’ merch"
- Donald Trump is attempting to profit from his McDonalds stunt by launching a limited edition line of "MAGADonald’s" merchandise following a McDonald’s visit.
- In an attempt to troll Kamala Harris over her claims of working at McDonald's in the 1980s, Trump worked a McDonald's drive-thru in Pennsylvania.
- The campaign released a T-shirt featuring Trump in an apron with the “MAGADonald’s” slogan.
- A fundraising email announced, "I HAVE A McGIFT FOR YOU!"
- The "gift" has a price and the website suggests a $100 donation for the shirt.
- The fundraising email also stated: “I am the first and only 2024 presidential nominee to work at McDonald’s, but thanks to Kamala, prices for a meal are through the roof!”
- Trump's online store already consists of $55 Make America Great Again baseball caps and a $499 pair of golden “fight, fight, fight” sneakers.
- McDonald's has attempted to distance itself from Trump and stated it does not endorse candidates for elected office. 
- Trump has repeatedly claimed that Kamala Harris never worked at McDonalds despite not having evidence. 
- Trump worked for about 15 minutes and stated: “I’ve now worked for 15 minutes more than Kamala.” 
- Trump said he would cover the cost of all food served to supporters.
- Trump reported that he enjoyed his mini-shift and would come back and do it again.

The Washington Times: "Trump offers up McDonald’s photo on shirt: ‘McGift’"
- Following his McDonald's fry-cook stint, Trump is fundraising by selling a limited edition t-shirt. 
- A campaign email read "I have a McGift for you!"
- Trump's brief campaign photo op at a Pennsylvania McDonald's was done in part to highlight Trump's assertion that Kamala Harris lied about working at the fast food chain in college. 
- When telling reporters he was on his way to work at McDonald's, Trump said: “I’ve really wanted to do this all my life and now I’m going to do it because she didn’t do it.”
- Trump's fundraising email read: “I am the first and only 2024 presidential nominee to work at McDonald’s. But thanks to Kamala, prices for a meal are through the roof! I will Make America Affordable Again, but I’m going to need your help to do it.”
- There are no employment records to confirm Harris worked at McDonalds and no co-workers have come forward to support her claims. A family friend stated she remembered Harris working at McDonalds.
- Trump now claims he has worked "for 15 minutes more than Kamala."
- In response to Trump's time at McDonalds, a Harris campaign spokesperson said: “when Trump feels desperate, all he knows how to do is lie. 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.”
- McDonald's has since stated that it does not support political candidates and that it did not invite Trump or the media attention to the store. 

Discussion:
The Independent is a left-leaning media outlet while The Washington Post is right-leaning. I think that the political leanings of each new outlet were evident in the two articles I summarized above. The headline used by The Independent seems judgmental of Trump's actions while the Washington Post headline plays into Trump's statement of the shirt being a gift. The Independent referenced the suggested price of the shirt and also brought up the prices of several other items Trump's campaign sells. The Washington Post did not mention the price of the shirt but did state they were being sold for fundraising purposes. 
Both articles discussed Trump's assertion that Kamala Harris did not work at McDonald's while she was in college. The Independent stated that Trump had no evidence to back up this claim. Meanwhile, the Washington Post mentioned the lack of evidence to back up Harris's employment history at McDonalds (no employment records or co-worker validation). The Independent seemed to highlight the fact that Trump only performed actual work at McDonald's for 15 minutes. 
Despite the tone of The Independent article being more judgmental of Trump and the tone of The Washington Post article being more positive and supportive of Trump, both articles seemed to present the same facts. I also did not notice any obvious lies or false claims made by either of the articles.