A McDonald’s restaurant in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, which hosted former President Donald Trump on October 20, its Yelp reviews were disabled after sparking a wave of politicized comments.
Yelp told CBS MoneyWatch that it decided to block new reviews of the McDonald’s location because it wanted to ensure that user reviews reflected “authentic and direct” experiences with the businesses. Yelp placed an “unusual activity alert” on the Feasterville, Pennsylvania-based restaurant’s page on the afternoon of October 21.
About 145 new notices had already been posted previously, although on Sunday Trump only served food to pre-selected supporters in five cars. Separately, the restaurant, located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was closed to the public that morning.
Yelp disables reviews
Trump’s appearance at the restaurant, where he wore an apron and worked the drive-thru, sparked some controversy, prompting McDonald’s Corp. to emphasize that this was not a presidential endorsement. A sign on the door of the franchise owner and operator acknowledged their impartiality, adding that they were proud to serve everyone.
The same can’t be said for some reviewers on Yelp, who have taken distinctly partisan views about Trump’s presence there.
“A senile old man working fries without good hygiene at the restaurant,” one reviewer posted on October 21.
Another wrote: “Criminals are working here at the window and have access to your credit cards and money,” a reference to the fact that Trump has been convicted of multiple crimes. counts of falsifying business records during his criminal trial in Manhattan earlier this year.
Others characterized the negative criticism as politically motivated. “This company is being criticized for political reasons by a bunch of hateful idiots who have never been to the restaurant,” one wrote on October 21.
“It’s sad but not surprising that deranged liberals would degrade a small business simply because they can’t stand Donald Trump. They should get a life,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in an email.
Trump’s visit to McDonald’s was prompted by his claim, without evidence, that Vice President Kamala Harris had never worked at the restaurant. She previously stated that she worked at a fast food chain while in college.
For its part, Yelp said its decision to disable reviews was due to its goal of ensuring authentic reviews for its users.
“Consumer trust is one of our top priorities, which is why Yelp invests significantly in technology and human moderation to protect the integrity and quality of content on our platform,” he said. “When we see activity significantly decreasing or stopping, our moderators clean up the page so that reviews describing only direct consumer experiences are reflected.”
