A McDonald’s location in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, that hosted former president Donald Trump on October 20 has had its Yelp reviews disabled after attracting a flurry of politicized comments.
Yelp told CBS MoneyWatch it decided to block new reviews for the McDonald’s location because it wants to ensure that user comments reflect “genuine, firsthand” experiences with businesses. Yelp placed an “unusual activity alert” on the Feasterville, PA-based restaurant’s page on the afternoon of October 21.
About 145 new reviews had already been posted prior to that, although Trump only served food to pre-selected supporters in five cars on Sunday. Otherwise, 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 donned an apron and worked the drive-thru, sparked some controversy, prompting McDonald’s Corp. to emphasize this was not a presidential endorsement. A sign on the door from the franchise owner and operator acknowledged they are nonpartisan, adding that they proudly serve everyone.
The same cannot be said of some reviewers on Yelp, who took distinctly partisan views on Trump’s appearance at the location.
“Senile old man working fries without proper restaurant hygiene,” one reviewer posted on October 21.
Another wrote, “Felons working the window here with access to your credit cards and cash,” a reference to Trump having been convicted of multiple felony counts of falsifying business records in his Manhattan criminal trial earlier this year.
Others called out the negative reviews as politically motivated. “This business is being review bombed, over politics, by a bunch of hateful fools who have never been to the restaurant,” one wrote on October 21.
“It’s sad yet unsurprising 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 the McDonald’s was spurred by his assertion, without evidence, that Vice President Kamala Harris had never worked at the restaurant. She has previously said she worked at the fast-food chain while in college.
For its part, Yelp said its decision to disable comments is due to its goal of ensuring genuine reviews for its users.
“Consumer trust is one of our top priorities, which is why Yelp makes significant investments in technology and human moderation to protect the integrity and quality of content on our platform,” it said. “When we see the activity dramatically decrease or stop, our moderators will clean up the page so reviews describing only firsthand consumer experiences are reflected.”
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