Left-wing television host Stephen Colbert celebrated a heckler who shouted at President Donald Trump during his visit to a Ford facility in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, before echoing the auto worker’s insult.
“Apparently, Trump has designated a new national bird,” Colbert quipped during Wednesday’s episode of CBS’ The Late Show, after showing a short video of the president giving a heckler the middle finger.
“That’s a new one,” the left-wing TV host continued. “The President of the United States publicly F-bombs and then flips somebody off. That is the most crudely hostile response from the leader of our country since Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan, ‘I’ll poop in every pot.'”
Colbert then praised the heckler, adding, “You gotta hand it to that auto worker for getting under Trump’s skin — and all because he brought up the Epstein files.”
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“Which reminds me, where are the Epstein files?” the comedian said, eliciting cheers among his audience members.
Colbert then doubled down, demanding, “Where are they?”
“We were told that there would be Epstein files,” he said. “In fact, you signed a law mandating that you would have to release the Epstein files by the middle of last month. But you still haven’t.”
“It kind of makes you seem like a — what’s the phrase?” Colbert added, before exclaiming, “Pedophile protector!” echoing the heckler’s reported insult.
The heckler — later identified as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, a member of the United Auto Workers — ended up suspended over the outburst, according to a report by the Washington Post.
Video footage of the quick exchange was caught on camera and later posted to social media, where it went viral.
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White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement that President Trump’s response was “appropriate.”
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” Cheung said.
On the topic of the Epstein files, former President Bill Clinton is now under contempt of Congress after refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday for a deposition related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
The following day, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also skipped out on her deposition, prompting House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to move to hold the former First Lady in contempt of Congress as well.
Colbert, however, failed to mention the Clintons’ defiance of the bipartisan Epstein-related subpoenas this week during his 11-minute monologue on Wednesday.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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