Former President Bill Clinton had to gently remind a Georgia McDonald’s worker who he was in an encounter going viral on social media.
In the clip shared on X by Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Angel Ureña, the 42nd president — who was out campaigning for Kamala Harris in the swing state — approaches the counter wearing jeans and a red, white and blue track jacket with the letters USA emblazoned on the back.
The woman working the counter immediately flashes a wide grin of faint recognition, but it’s obvious she isn’t totally sure which wizened elder statesman is standing before her.
After a few seconds she takes a gamble and asks, “You Joe?” — an apparent reference to President Biden, 81.
The audio is low, but the former president, 78, appears to say “I’m Bill.”
At this, the McDonald’s employee is clearly more excited — she exclaims “Bill!?” — and quickly makes her way around the counter to embrace him.
Her coworkers laugh and clap as the counter worker cackles with delight. Clinton smiles broadly as workers from the back of the restaurant move to the front to capture the moment with their cell phones, flashing each other glances of disbelief.
Clinton popped into the restaurant after the Harris campaign trotted him out just three weeks before Election Day, as polling shows her support from the black community is lagging far behind previous Democratic candidates.
Trump is polling at 15% with black voters this year — compared with just 7% in 2016.
Georgia, with its 16 electoral votes, is positioned as a key swing state both parties are aggressively vying to win.
The photo-op represented something of a homecoming for the now-svelte ex-commander-in-chief. Although he’s been a vegan for more than a decade, Bubba’s penchant for cheeseburgers, in particular those from McDonald’s, was well known during his presidency.
A famous photo from the ’90s shows Clinton — drenched with sweat from a jog — stopping into Mickey D’s for a bite flanked by Secret Service.
