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Believers of MAGA claim that the outbreak of E. Coli at McDonald’s is a conspiracy to harm Trump

The Center for Disease Control Consumer Advisory warned of the spread of the deadly E. coli disease linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders on Tuesday, which led to one death, 10 hospitalizations, and dozens of others affected. It’s a scary development in a country where 87% of Americans visit McDonald’s at least once a year. But like everything in 2024, some people believe the disease outbreak is fake news. In fact, some Trump supporters believe the recent warning issued by the CDC about foodborne illnesses and fatalities is just to harm Trump in the presidential elections.

“So let me get this straight. Right after Trump worked at McDonald’s, suddenly the CDC reported an outbreak of E. coli bacteria from their Quarter Pounders. ‘Sick people,’ wrote a user on Tuesday on X.

Trump posed for a photo op at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania on October 20, pretending to serve food to customers, despite it all being organized with pre-screened supporters. The former president did this stunt because he falsely claimed that his Democratic rival Kamala Harris lied about working at McDonald’s in college to make herself more relatable. The billionaire’s appearance in a McDonald’s worker uniform is supposed to make him more relatable.

Trump supporters dubbed diseases from McDonald’s as “Perfect Timing” conspiracy, suggesting that it was all a plan to harm Trump, apparently leading some in the MAGA world to consume more McDonald’s because they didn’t believe the CDC.

“Yes. I had a double decker at McDonald’s yesterday, and was already planning dinner for tonight, but I’ll get another one tomorrow. Responded a user: “Because the CDC is full of filth.”

Doubts about the CDC are not entirely new, of course. While 74% of Americans in a February 2022 poll said they trust the public health agency, that leaves a quarter of the country not trusting the CDC, according to CBS News. It seems a safe bet that the number of people distrusting the CDC has increased since early 2022, given the political machinations of the right-wing media ecosystem, despite lack of more recent poll data.

Conspiracy theorists on social media didn’t just point fingers at the CDC. It seems all three-letter agencies are implicated in some way.

“Right after people flocked to McDonald’s to show support for Trump during the shift. The man, #CIA “highly predictable,” wrote a user on X.

There’s another side to these conspiracy theories, of course. Many people were joking about the recent publicity stunt by Trump at McDonald’s and how it could be related to a Trump visit.

After Trump’s visit to a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, some people flooded Yelp with negative comments. Yelp shut down the reviews for the specific restaurant location and told Gizmodo that all reviews must be “real” and based on “direct experience with the company” to be allowed on the platform.

“Given the increased public interest we’ve seen after the former President Trump’s visit to McDonald’s in Visterville, Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 20, we acted quickly to temporarily disable the posting of content for that page and put a warning about unusual activity on Monday, October 21,” Yelp told Gizmodo late Tuesday via email. “When we see activity drop significantly or stop, our moderators will clean up the page so that reviews reflect direct consumer experiences only.”

No, the CDC, CIA, or anyone else didn’t orchestrate a fake news campaign for E. coli against Trump. One person died in Colorado and McDonald’s is still figuring out if the E. coli came from the beef or onions used in the Quarter Pounder. Not everything is about elections, though most respectable Americans are staring at daily opinion polls concerned that Trump has a real chance to become the most powerful person in the world again.

This is the man who’s said to have told his staff repeatedly that he wants generals like those who served Adolf Hitler. That man. He’s dead set against any moderate Democrat. And he could become president again.

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