The Ford Motor Company employee who got into some trouble for heckling President Donald Trump at the Dearborn Truck Plant on Tuesday in Michigan has received over $800,000 in donations.
T.J. Sabula was suspended with pay after Trump’s visit to the plant when he shouted the words “Pedophile protector!” at the commander in chief, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.
“The comment was an apparent reference to Trump’s association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the U.S. Department of Justice’s slow release of the infamous Epstein files. Epstein’s death in prison was ruled a suicide,” the newspaper said.
In response, Trump flipped his middle finger to the heckler, according to Breitbart News, and the moment was caught on camera:
Social media users were quick to respond to the video of Trump, one person writing, “Legend. Go Don!” while another said, “That’s classic Trump. Unfiltered and direct.”
Yet another user replied, “You do not get to scream vile smears at a president and expect politeness.”
The Breitbart News report referenced a Washington Post article that said Sabula is a United Auto Workers Local 600 line worker and he identified himself as the heckler. He has since said he has “no regrets whatsoever” regarding the incident.
“Trump’s overall reception during his visit to the Ford facility, which builds F-150s, was very positive, with many employees cheering the president as he toured the facility with Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford and President and CEO Jim Farley,” the report said.
When it comes to the donations to Sabula, two GoFundMe pages have, combined, raised over $810,000.
Meanwhile, Ford spokesman Dave Tovar told the Free Press the company did see the clip.
“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,” he explained.
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