Ford Worker Who Heckled Trump Back on the Job – and With a Bigger Bank Account

It was the shout hear round the world, a worker at the Ford River Route plant in suburban Detroit yelling out, “Pedophile protector” as President Donald Trump walked by his workstation last month.

In the wake of the incident, which led the president to shout, “Fuck you,” extend his middle finger and tell TJ Sabula, “You’re fired,” the worker was briefly sent home.

Since then, however, the 40-year-old father of two has returned to his post, having neither been fired nor disciplined, according to the United Auto Workers Union which represents hourly employees at the factory. But Sabula is significantly better off financially, the beneficiary of two GoFundMe campaigns which were eventually halted after raising over $800,000.

What happened

The incident occurred on January 13 when the president came to the Motor City to give a speech to the Detroit Economic Club. He made a detour, stopping at the Ford Rouge Complex, one of several plants producing what has long been the best-selling vehicle on the U.S. market.

While Trump shook hands and posed for pics with some line workers he received a decidedly different reception from Sabula who shouted, “Pedophile protector,” referencing the child sex abuse scandal involving convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which has threatened to engulf Trump, a long-time friend of the financier.

The notoriously thin-skinned president quickly responded, shouting, “Fuck you,” twice, extending his middle finger, and telling Sabula, “You’re fired.”

“This ain’t The Apprentice”

The last comment matched the signature line Trump used in his old TV show, “The Apprentice,” when a contestant failed to meet expectations.

But, “This ain’t ‘The Apprentice,’” said UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson during a conference in Washington, D.C. And while Sabula himself said at the time he worried he would be fired, the UAW convinced Ford to not only keep the worker employed but to make sure there were no disciplinary comments on his record.

The UAW got involved in the affair immediately after Sabula was pulled from his station, with Ford Motor Co.’s human affairs department saying it would like into the incident. “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.”

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An “unambiguous response”

For its part, the White House issued a statement describing Sabula as, “A lunatic…wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage.”

Videos taken during the confrontation didn’t capture all of what was said but there was no indication Sabula made any other comments, let along scream expletives. But the president’s own comments were recorded. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung added his opinion that what the president did was “an appropriate and unambiguous response.”

The event, meanwhile, triggered a strong response among Trump opponents. Two separate GoFundMe campaigns were launched immediately, together raising more than $800,000 before Sabula asked that they be ended.

Asked about the incident during an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show, Ford Chairman Bill Ford told Headlight.News he was “embarrassed,” but he said he would leave it to the HR department to decide how to act. All potential disciplinary actions involving factory workers are subject to discussions with the UAW.