McDonald’s (MCD) has long been at the center of presidential politics, from frequent stops at former President Bill Clinton’s to Donald Trump serving Big Macs at the White House.

But this time the spotlight didn’t seem as bright as ever.

Both Kamala Harris and Trump are vying to be the candidate most associated with the restaurant chain, which the company says is visited by nearly 9 in 10 Americans at least once a year.

Harris has been the most direct of late. For years, she has talked about working at a restaurant during her college summers, where she did, among other things, “fries and ice cream,” a fact she has mentioned in speeches in recent weeks and in at least one campaign ad.

“I worked at McDonald’s to make money to spend,” Harris recently told a crowd in North Carolina, adding that “some of the people I worked with raised families on that paycheck.”

Trump, meanwhile, is also clearly targeting the McDonald’s faithful. He has long boasted about his love of McDonald’s food. He has also used the chain to attack his opponent. Last Sunday, he claimed — without providing any evidence — that Harris never worked there.

What effect this will have on the company remains to be seen. But a look back at recent cases that have thrust the company into the political spotlight—from Bill Clinton’s visits to the fallout from the “Fast Food Nation” documentary—suggests the company is adept at navigating the ever-changing political winds.

Indeed, the attention might matter less to the bottom line than the political issues on the horizon, both in Washington, D.C., and at the state level. For example: the minimum wage and unionization efforts.

“McDonald’s has a lot of moving parts — it always does,” Sean Dunlop, who studies the company for Morningstar, told Yahoo Finance. “It’s unlikely that being in campaign ads or being associated with either side will have a huge financial impact — ultimately, it’s the politics that come after that that matter.”

McDonald’s did not respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment on how the election campaign interest has affected its financial results or Harris’ employment history with the company.

Big Mac Political Issues

In 2025 and beyond, the company — and the entire fast food sector — faces a host of political issues.

Perhaps the most pressing issue began in Harris’ home state of California, but it could spread nationwide. It was in the Golden State that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this year that raised the minimum wage for some fast-food workers to $20 an hour.

The bill, formally known as Assembly Bill 1228, has led to lobbying from fast-food executives who say the wage hikes could force fast-food companies to leave the state.

“We’re seeing more activity,” Dunlop said of McDonald’s and other fast-food chains, “in local advocacy, where the company is promoting candidates who are less likely to advocate for steep wage increases.”

Oregon and Illinois are two states where similar bills are being considered. Perhaps not coincidentally, in 2023, according to disclosures, the company sent a series of donations to local lawmakers in those two states, who are likely to have a say in such changes.

And that’s a larger issue where Harris and the chain could clash. During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris highlighted what she called unsustainable wages at McDonald’s, even saying at one point, “The bows aren’t enough.”

This time, Harris again expressed her desire to raise the federal minimum wage, but she did not specifically address policy toward fast food chains.

The company has also spent $1.4 million on federal lobbying this year, according to OpenSecrets. (That’s a similar pace of spending to recent years.)

The focus on Washington comes because the company has interests there, too. There are proposals before the National Labor Relations Board — not to mention Congress — that could lead to more oversight of franchise labor practices or more ability for fast-food workers to unionize.

Democrats in Congress have also been trying for years to raise the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour.

The reach of political campaigns

Meanwhile, Harris’ moves toward McDonald’s and her focus on her time as an employee are clearly an attempt to connect with her in order to reach voters who are familiar with the chain.

This is literally understandable to millions. According to the company, 1 in 8 Americans has worked at McDonald’s at some point in their life.

But Trump has also long focused on the chain. Donald Trump Jr. recently joked that no one has eaten more McDonald’s “per person” than his father when the former president visited a McDonald’s last year after visiting first responders in East Palestine, Ohio.

Trump ordered a giant fast food menu — including a McDonald’s — when the Clemson University football team came to the White House in 2019 after winning the national championship.

“I think it’s their favorite food,” the then-president told reporters about his choice.

McDonald’s political image has also changed over the years. The chain became less politically popular decades ago after the release of the 2004 documentary “Super Size Me” and the 2006 book “Fast Food Nation,” which became a bestseller focusing on “the dark side of the all-American meal.”

This led to further criticism of the company, but did not stop many politicians from posing for photos next to the Golden Arches, at least from time to time.

Even Barack Obama, who once worked at Baskin Robbins but is better known for his wife Michelle’s emphasis on healthy eating, has occasionally indulged in fast food. His 2012 presidential rival, Mitt Romney, has occasionally given away McDonald’s and has chosen his vice presidential running mate, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who himself reportedly once worked at McDonald’s.

Previously, McDonald’s acceptance was more brazen. Bill Clinton loved McDonald’s so much that a plaque reportedly even adorns Little Rock, Ark., a place he often visited as governor.

The famous Saturday Night Live sketch in which Phil Hartman impersonates Clinton and talks to voters in a restaurant (and then feasts on their food) is one of the most iconic political sketches of all time.

Clinton even used McDonald’s to endorse Harris during the recent Democratic National Convention, saying, “She’s at the top of her game right now, and she’s constantly asking, ‘How can I help you?'”

He also joked about his own reputation, telling Harris to the crowd, “I’ll be so happy when she actually walks into the White House as president because she’ll break my record for president who’s spent the most time at McDonald’s.”

Clinton himself is unlikely to be seen anywhere near the chain any more: he switched to a vegan diet more than a decade ago.

Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

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