The Ford employee who heckled the president Donald Trump During his visit last month to a Michigan auto plant, he was not disciplined and kept his job, the United Auto Workers union said Monday.
TJ Sabula, 40, yelled at Trump that he was a “protector of pedophiles” as the president toured the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn.
The president responded by saying the words “fuck you” twice and giving the finger, according to video of the incident.
Trump’s Justice Department continues to face scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats for its delay in releasing additional documents related to investigations into deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, after a bipartisan law demanded the full release of the documents by December 19.
FORD EMPLOYEE SUSPENDED FOR CALLING TRUMP “PROTECTOR OF PEDOPHILES” HAS “NO REGRETS” FOR “EMBARRASSING” PRESIDENT
President Donald Trump greets employees during a tour of the Ford River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan. (The White House via X)
The president also told Sabula during the exchange that he would be fired, UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson said Monday at a policy conference in Washington, according to Reuters.
“It’s not ‘The Apprentice,'” she said at the conference, referring to the Trump-hosted reality show in which he abruptly fired contestants for underperforming in the competition.
Dickerson said Sabula still had his job and “had no discipline under his belt,” emphasizing that the union supported his right to free speech.
“There was an employee in that factory that day who told Mr. Trump exactly what he thought of him,” Dickerson said. “Unfortunately, in that moment, we saw what the current president really thinks about workers and the way he reacted: he gave us the finger.”
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said after the factory tour with Trump that the incident was unfortunate and that he was embarrassed by it.
President Donald Trump walks with Ford River Rouge Plant Manager Corey Williams (right), Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. (left), and Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley (second from right). (Getty Images/Getty Images)
Sabula said shortly after the exchange with the president that he had “no regrets.”
“As far as calling him out, I have absolutely no regrets,” Sabula told the Washington Post at the time. He estimated he was standing about 20 yards from Trump and said the president could hear him “very, very, very clearly.”
He also said he believed he had been “the target of political retaliation” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.”
“I don’t feel like destiny often looks down on you, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” he said. “And today I think that’s what I did.”
WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP GAVE ‘APPROPRIATE’ RESPONSE AFTER CHACEUR CONFRONTATION Caught on Video at Ford Plant
President Donald Trump speaks alongside Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford (second from left) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) as he tours Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Sabula described himself at the time as a political independent who had never voted for Trump but had supported other Republican candidates.
THE White House responded to the exchange by saying Trump gave an “appropriate” response to the autoworker.
“A madman was wildly yelling 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 last month.
Reuters contributed to this report.
