President Donald Trump flipped off an autoworker as he toured a Michigan Ford plant in an incident caught on video Tuesday, and the White House defended the action as an “appropriate” response to someone screaming at the commander-in-chief.
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
A 30-second video, obtained by TMZ, shows someone yelling in the president’s direction, though it is unclear exactly what that person is saying. TMZ reported that person appeared to yell “pedophile protector” at the president.
The video then shows the president pointing to the factory floor a few times as he continues to walk through part of the factory. He then flips off someone on the factory floor with his right hand.
A second video is then played showing what appears to be a more zoomed in shot of the same interaction. It also shows what TMZ suggests is a person yelling “pedophile protector” at the president while he is standing in one place.
In the TMZ video, the president appears to respond by pointing at the person and mouthing or saying “fuck you” twice.
TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old line worker at the plant, told The Washington Post he was the person shouting at the president, and that he was specifically referencing the president’s handling of the matter around the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He told the Post he has been suspended from work pending an investigation.
“As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” Sabula told the Post.
CNN has reached out to Sabula for comment. Laura Dickerson, vice president of the UAW, which represents auto workers, said in a statement that the union would “ensure that our member receives the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights.”
“The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union — the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job,” she said, adding “Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone —including the President of the United States.”
Ford’s Executive Director of Corporate Communications David Tovar struck a different tone, praising the event in a statement and adding “we’re proud of how our employees represented Ford.”
“We’ve seen the clip you’re referring to. One of our core values is respect and we don’t condone anyone saying anything inappropriate like that within our facilities. When that happens, we have a process to deal with it but we don’t get into specific personnel matters,” Tovar said.
Sabula, who told The Post that he identifies as politically independent and never voted for Trump though he has supported other Republicans, said that he believed the president could hear him “very, very, very clearly.” He said he now believes he is being “targeted for political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.”
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told The Post. “And today I think I did that.”
After the incident, online fundraisers popped up raising money for Sabula.
Since Trump returned to the White House, his Justice Department has promised, reneged, and then promised again to deliver new and potentially explosive evidence on Epstein’s alleged underworld of pedophilia.
The Justice Department has released thousands of files related to Epstein after Congress passed a law forcing the Trump administration to do so, but the department is still struggling to process the massive trove of files, CNN previously reported.
Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crimes in connection with Epstein.
This story has been updated with additional details.
