Ford Employee Yells At Trump, Gets Flipped Off By POTUS, Reprimanded By Ford
We live in strange times, as evidenced by an incident that took place yesterday while President Donald Trump toured Ford's truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
According to Michigan Advance, a Ford assembly-line worker called Trump, who was touring the plant before speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, a "pedophile protector". Trump apparently heard, mouthed an expletive twice, and then gave the man the finger.
According to the United Auto Workers union, the man has been suspended. The length of the suspension is unclear.
As you likely know, the president has been under fire due to his past friendship with the late Jeffery Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender who died in federal prison while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The president was once a friend of Epstein's. There is an ongoing furor over whether the Department of Justice is taking too long or not to release files related to Epstein's case -- and whether Trump's name is in the files, and if so, if that would be evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on the part of Trump. Or even if it would indicate behavior that is unethical and/or immoral if not illegal.
To this point, there is no evidence of Trump having committed any crimes related to Epstein.
Reporting by Michigan Advance shows that two Michigan-based U.S. Representatives -- Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Rashida Talib (D-Detroit) claim that sources say the man, identified as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, may face disciplinary action. The two Democrats claim that when former president Barack Obama visited auto plants, workers said offensive things and weren't disciplined.
This is a tricky case -- the First Amendment protects Americans from suppression of their free-speech rights by the government, but not from their employer. This is why sports leagues can fine coaches for criticizing referees or why companies can fire employees for posting racist tweets on Twitter/X. So, Ford probably is in the clear to discipline the employee, but if what Talib and Dingell claim is true, there is some hypocrisy involved.
We truly do live in polarizing times.
[Image: Ford]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
More by Tim Healey
Comments
Join the conversation
I cannot agree with Ford’s position. All things considered, he has the right to express himself and the union should stand behind him. He was only telling the truth.
The assertion that workers were "offensive" to Obama without consequence is being used to highlight a potential double standard regarding the 2026 incident involving Trump, but historical records show Obama was largely welcomed in auto plants. HOWEVER, true or not, trump as the President of the United States should have presented a better face. What an example to our children. He actually mouthed Fu&k You twice and gave the man the finger. Not something a President should ever do. I wonder if he was feeling guilty? And Ford should NOT punish the man. I hope the union stands behind him.