Donald Trump kicked off the weekend with the odd comment at a rally about the late golf legend Arnold Palmer’s anatomy and wrapped it up by pretending to work at McDonald’s, showing little regard for the minimum wage.

This kind of strangeness and absurdity is what we might expect from a candidate increasingly disconnected from reality. Even so, Trump’s antics over the weekend were astonishing.

Let’s focus on the McDonald’s charade because I’m still trying to make sense of Saturday’s bizarre comments about Palmer.

Trump’s faux McDonald’s job echoes Dukakis’ infamous photo-op

On Sunday, Trump’s campaign commandeered a McDonald’s in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, thanks to franchisee Derek Giacomantonio, who agreed to close the restaurant for the day. This allowed Trump’s team to orchestraprepare a phony “shift,” where he made fries and worked the drive-thru.

He only spent about 30 minutes doing this, which I’m sure was quite taxing for him. The patrons he served were pre-selected supporters who reportedly received whatever he handed out instead of placing actual orders.

One might as well call that a Sad Meal paired with a large Orange Dukakis. (Trump’s McDonald’s getup drew parallels to Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis’ disastrous 1988 tank photo-op, where both candidates appeared awkward and out of their element.)

Trump fails to provide proof of Harris’ employment claim

The absurdity of this stunt is magnified by the reasoning behind it. Trump wasn’t genuinely trying to connect with fast-food industry workers; instead, he attempted to make an inconsequential and baseless claim.

Trump has alleged, with no evidence, that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris never worked at a McDonald’s during her college years, contradicting her own statements.

He provides no substantiation for his claims, and really, who cares? It’s a minor aspect of Harris’ history and professional journey. Yet, due to Trump’s pettiness, he feels compelled to make a big fuss over it, thinking it’s a clever jab.

“I’ve worked for 15 minutes longer than Kamala,” Trump falsely claimed.

Trump’s McDonald’s visit lacked empathy for low-wage workers

To underscore that his McDonald’s visit was merely a performance and showed no concern for hard-working individuals, Trump responded to a question about raising the minimum wage: “Well, I think this. These people work hard. They’re great. And I just saw something – a process that’s beautiful.”

One could interpret that as: “I’m too preoccupied pretending to make a point to actually care about minimum-wage employees.”

(I can’t help but wonder if McDonald’s conducted a background check on Trump prior to letting him take part. After all, he is currently facing various legal issues.)

Trump’s comments about Arnold Palmer

Many people might have missed Trump’s farcical drive-thru performance on Sunday, still trying to wrap their heads around his bizarre comments made about Arnold Palmer on Saturday.

“Arnold Palmer was a true man among men. And, with all due respect to women, I appreciate them greatly,” Trump stated, while gearing up to respond to a question that seemed to interest no one. “This man was the epitome of strength and toughness. I hesitate to say it, but you should have seen the reactions from other professionals when they exited the showers together, they were in awe.”

He claimed he didn’t want to mention it, but then he did. Trump added: “I had to share that shower detail because it’s the truth. What can I say? We aim to be transparent.”

No, we certainly don’t need such honesty when someone is campaigning to hold the nuclear launch codes and suddenly starts discussing the size of a man’s genitals in front of a large audience. That is unnecessary.

This sort of behavior is categorized as “odd,” and at 78 years of age, it transitions to being “worrisome,” as declining mental sharpness may lead to diminished self-restraint.

Discussing genitalia at a presidential candidate event is a poor strategy

This instance earned Trump several headlines such as:

• “At a Pennsylvania Rally, Trump Reaches New Low in Vulgarity.”
• “Donald Trump Extols the Size of Arnold Palmer’s Manhood: ‘All Man!’”
• “In the Final Days of Campaign, Trump Talks About Arnold Palmer’s Genitals.”

Trump isn’t helping his case regarding concerns about his mental sharpness

For someone whose age and mental clarity have increasingly come into question by the media lately, sharing a crude anecdote about a revered athlete certainly doesn’t assist his image.

Moreover, the same candidate who required his campaign to stage a made-up fast-food photo-op about a non-issue reveals, once again, his vindictive, deeply self-centered, and erratic nature.

This is not the type of weekend one desires at the close of a campaign.

Yet, it surprisingly fits, considering Trump is not the kind of person anyone should elect as president.