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An automotive plant worker who called out President Donald Trump for being a “protector” of “pedophile[s]” in a viral video has been suspended from his job.
On Tuesday, Trump visited a Ford plant in Michigan. A cell phone video shows Trump standing on a platform high above workers, while a voice shouts up to him from off-screen.
“Pedophile protector!” that person yells in the video.
The president responds to the individual, mouthing what appears to be the words “fuck you,” twice. He also flips the person his middle finger, the video shows.
In a statement, the White House defended Trump’s reaction, claiming that the president “gave an appropriate and unambiguous response” to a person they described as a “lunatic” in a “fit of rage.”
The heckler has since identified himself as T.J. Sabula, a 40-year-old United Auto Workers line worker at the factory. Aside from concerns about his future at the plant, Sabula believes his actions were worth it.
“As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever. … I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity. And today I think I did that,” Sabula told The Washington Post.
Sabula has been suspended from his position at the plant. The length of his suspension is as yet unknown.
In light of his suspension, a GoFundMe account has been set up for Sabula, and has raised over $330,000 as of Wednesday morning.
“Let’s rally and support TJ and help him pay some bills (and force DJT to release the Trump/Epstein Files),” the GoFundMe states.
Sabula’s remark that Trump is a “pedophile protector” is a reference to the president stalling the release of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged child sex trafficker and former close friend of the president’s. After campaigning in 2024 in favor of releasing the Epstein files, Trump reneged on that promise once he re-entered the White House, and has since wrongly derided bipartisan calls to make the files public as a Democratic Party-led “hoax.”
After Trump reluctantly signed a bill into law that required the Epstein files to be made public, the DOJ recently admitted that only about 1 percent of files have been added to an online database for viewing, missing by far a mid-December deadline.
Notably, the rollout of documents has also been mired in controversy — some files that were initially included have since been removed, for example, including at least one image of a framed photo of Trump in Epstein’s office. (That file was returned to the database after several news agencies reported that it had been removed.)
Sabula’s opinion of Trump is aligned with how a plurality of Americans feel about him. According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll, 49 percent of Americans believe Trump is trying to cover up Epstein’s crimes, while only 30 percent don’t believe that he is. Another 21 percent are unsure.
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