Trump visits McDonald’s as Harris speaks to churchgoers in swing state push

US presidential candidates zero in on battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia as Election Day nears.

United States presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spent the day rallying supporters in battleground states that will be critical in deciding who wins the White House, a little more than two weeks from Election Day.

Former Republican President Trump made his push for voters in the state of Pennsylvania on Sunday while US Vice President Harris, a Democrat, spent the day in Georgia.

At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, an employee showed Trump – a well-known fan of fast food – how to dunk baskets of fries in oil, salt them and put them into boxes using a scoop.

“It requires great expertise, actually, to do it right and to do it fast,” Trump said, putting away his suit jacket and wearing an apron over his shirt and tie. “I like this job,” he added.

The visit came as Trump has tried to counter Harris’s accounts of working at the fast-food chain while in college, an experience that Trump has claimed – without offering evidence – never happened.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle said the McDonald’s stop was a “photo op” that allowed him to “needle” Harris over the issue. “It really gave him a chance to just go after her in that way,” Lavelle said.

Harris looks on as Stevie Wonder sings Happy Birthday to her during a service at a church in Jonesboro, Georgia, October 20 [Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters]

For her part, Harris, who marked her 60th birthday on Sunday, participated in two worship services outside of Atlanta.

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. He also sang Happy Birthday to Harris.

Earlier, the Democratic candidate spoke at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, where she drew a sharp contrast to the harsh and divisive rhetoric of the current political climate.

“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,” Harris said, without mentioning Trump by name.

“At this moment, our country is at a crossroads and where we go is up to us.”

Democrats have long sought to portray Trump as a threat to democracy, particularly after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that the 2020 contest, which the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden, was marred by widespread fraud.

On Sunday, the ex-president told reporters in Pennsylvania that he would respect the results of next month’s vote “if it’s a fair election”.

Experts have raised concerns that Trump is laying the groundwork to contest the November election results should he lose to Harris.

Recent polls suggest the two presidential candidates are neck-and-neck as Election Day nears, with the race expected to come down to how they fare in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona, among others.

Later on Sunday, Trump held a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was then expected to attend a Pittsburgh Steelers game.

Harris said she would campaign on Monday with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney – a staunch Trump critic – in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies