Chris Arnade Walks the World:

The last few months has provided two moments that emphasize how central McDonald’s is to American life, both physically and culturally. First there was the viral, and controversial, Trump campaign stop where he “worked” for an hour, and now the news that Luigi Mangione, the charged and alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was caught in an Altoona franchise because he was spotted by a group of morning regulars and employees.

Those who have followed me for the last decade know that McDonald’s is also central to who I am. My first viral piece, that effectively launched my writing career, was about how McDonald’s has become America’s community centers, especially for communities where so much else has fallen apart, or disappointed people.

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Trump’s McDonald’s photo op, which while it has been adjudicated to death, is a great illustration of what many elites still miss about his appeal.

Trump’s superpower has long been signaling to working stiffs that he’s “just like you” despite being on the surface anything like them. His love of McDonald’s, which I believe is as genuine as any politician can ever have, is one of those signals, and maybe his most effective, because it makes his critics go hyperbolic in a way that signals that they are not “just like you.”

I recently discovered Arnade as a writer and I think he’s fantastic. I prevously read his piece on how McDonald’s has become America’s community center, and loved it, but I didn’t register the byline.

Like me, Arnade is an ambler but he is far more dedicated than I.