Factory floor flare-up: Ford fires worker who called Trump ‘pedophile protector’; Sabula says ‘no regrets’

The Ford factory floor briefly turned into a political theatre this week, after US President Donald Trump exchanged insults and obscene gestures with an employee who shouted “pedophile protector” during his visit — an outburst that quickly went viral and left the worker facing consequences.

As President Trump toured a Michigan auto plant, an autoworker, TJ Sabula, 40, shouted, "pedophile protector!" and the president responded by mouthing the words "f*** you" twice and giving the middle finger.




Within hours, the worker was suspended, but the video went viral, and America once again found itself debating free speech, factory decorum, and presidential finger etiquette, Fox News reported.

Although Sabula was fired, he had no regrets about the same.

Sabula said he was later suspended from his job pending an internal investigation into the incident, but that he has "no regrets whatsoever."

"As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever," Sabula told The Washington Post. He estimated that he stood roughly 60 feet away from Trump and said the President could hear him "very, very, very clearly."

He said he was concerned about the future of his job, but believed he was "targeted for political retribution" for "embarrassing Trump in front of his friends."

"I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity," he said. "And today I think I did that."

Sabula described himself as a political independent who never voted for Trump but supported other Republican candidates.

The White House, responding to the exchange, argued that Trump gave an "appropriate" response to the autoworker.

"A lunatic was wildly screaming 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.

The incident came as Trump’s Justice Department continued to face scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats for its delay in the release of documents related to investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. A bipartisan law required the full release of the documents by Dec. 19, but it has been estimated that only about 1% of the files were made public.