More Than $430K Raised for Worker Flipped Off by Trump

The Ford truck plant worker in Michigan who insulted President Trump on Tuesday and apparently got flipped off in response tells the Washington Post he has been suspended from his job pending an investigation. The heckler identified himself as TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old United Auto Workers Local 600 line worker. He confirmed he was referencing how Trump has handled "the Epstein matter," as the Post puts it, when he shouted "pedophile protector" from about 60 feet away.

"As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever," Sabula tells the paper, though he admitted he is worried about the future of his job and suggested he was "targeted for political retribution" for "embarrassing Trump in front of his friends." (Trump was joined on the tour by executive chair Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley.) A GoFundMe campaign started to support Sabula might ease some of those concerns.

• It has raised more than $430,000 as of this writing, with this campaign message: "Please help us raise funds for patriot TJ Sabula!! TJ was suspended from his job at the Ford Automotive Company for correctly calling President Donald J Trump a Pedophile Protector!! Let's rally and support TJ and help him pay some bills (and force DJT to release the Trump/Epstein Files)."

• The page says: "TJ is a father of two young children, husband, and is a proud United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 600 line worker. Funds donated will support TJ and his family to cover expenses during this time of uncertainty."
• Sabula's union is standing by him, the Guardian reports. "The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW," Laura Dickerson, vice-president and director of the Ford department at the UAW, said in a statement. "He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job."
• "The UAW will ensure that our member receives the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member," Dickerson added. "Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States."

• The Detroit Free Press reports it asked a Ford rep about a video clip of the exchange, and got this response: "We've seen the clip you're referring to. 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." This story has been updated with new developments.