Ford Motor Company has suspended a factory worker whose heckling of United States President Donald Trump during a plant tour in Michigan provoked an obscene gesture from the president, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union has confirmed.
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The incident occurred on Tuesday at Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant during Trump’s visit to the company’s F-150 manufacturing facility. A widely circulated video shows the president raising his middle finger in response to catcalls from a worker on the factory floor.
US media reports said the employee shouted “pedophile protector,” an apparent reference to renewed public scrutiny surrounding Trump’s past association with the late financier and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the UAW confirmed that the worker had been suspended without pay and vowed to challenge the decision.
“The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union — the UAW,” said Laura Dickerson, UAW vice-president and director of the union’s Ford department. “He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.”
Dickerson added that the union would ensure the employee receives “the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member,” stressing that workers should not be subjected to vulgar behaviour by anyone, “including the President of the United States.”
Press reports identified the suspended worker as TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old line worker and member of UAW Local 600. Sabula confirmed to the Washington Post that his comment was a reference to the Epstein controversy and said he had no regrets about the confrontation, though he expressed concern about his job security.
“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 newspaper. “Today, I think I did that.”
He also claimed he was being targeted for political retribution and for embarrassing the president during the high-profile visit.
Ford Motor Company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the suspension.
The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, declined to confirm whether Trump made the gesture but defended the president’s reaction, describing it as an “appropriate and unambiguous response” to what he called a “lunatic wildly screaming expletives.”
Following the suspension, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to support Sabula and his family during the period of uncertainty. As of Wednesday, the fundraiser had attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, with contributions reportedly coming from individuals and public figures, including members of the band Dropkick Murphys.
The campaign page described Sabula as a father of two and said the funds would help cover household expenses while the matter is being contested.
Trump later delivered a speech at the Detroit Economic Club after touring the Ford complex.
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