DoorDash Defends White House Delivery, 'You Need To Touch Grass'

DoorDash is finding out the hard way the dangers of participating in politically-charged publicity stunts. Earlier this week, the "DoorDash Grandma" delivered McDonald's to the White House, leading to extensive backlash by the general public. However, in the days since delivery driver Sharon Simmons — an Arkansas woman who previously testified in favor of the "No Tax On Tips" initiative — handed Trump his beloved McDonald's meal, one DoorDash public affairs official took to X to defend the stunt. This arguably made matters even worse, with the clash spilling over into the comments section.

Julian Crowley, the DoorDash official in question, downplayed the politicization of the delivery, claiming that because "No Tax On Tips" was unanimously supported in the U.S. Senate, there was no harm in Simmons partaking in the delivery to the White House. "I love a conspiracy as much as the next person but man you need to touch grass," Crowley said in response to a user questioning the legitimacy of the order. "It was a special delivery to mark a policy that has bipartisan support with the media in attendance."

While the "No Tax On Tips" initiative (which may impact diners as well) is a fairly popular policy with voters, some continued to question the motive behind promoting a DoorDash delivery to the White House and the way the moment was presented to the public. "So yes to this being a planted PR story coordinated with the White House where it wasn't mentioned that she is in some way being compensated to play 'random door dasher making impromptu delivery and then agree to interviews.' You see this doesn't help right?" one X user said.

President Donald Trump's approval rating currently hovers around 40%. Recent data from the Pew Research Center also shows Americans are concerned about the ongoing Iran War, with only 35% of those polled saying they are confident in the president's policies. Thus, the decision to stage the McDonald's delivery may have reflected poorly on both the White House and DoorDash, despite the policy's popularity.

Julian Crowley also continued to double down and defend the delivery while growing increasingly peeved with those who disliked it. In fact, some say the DoorDash representative's posts were the last straw for them and planned to stop using DoorDash altogether. "I'm getting SO many comments and messages of people telling me they're DELETING their DoorDash app and CANCELLING their memberships," influencer Matt Rein said on his Threads account. "This is turning into an absolute disaster for @doordash!" Luckily, those who decide to cancel DoorDash completely don't have to worry about giving up In-N-Out, as the chain refuses to join in on the mobile delivery app trend anyway.