Trump’s Ford Heckler Back to Work Unpunished, UAW Says
The Ford worker who called President Donald Trump a “pedophile protector” during a plant tour and got a quick response from the president — the middle finger — and that’s it says the United Auto Workers (UAW).
Trump apparently also fell back into an old habit, telling Thomas Sabula he would be fired. Instead, the public rallied to his defense, raising more than $800,000 through online donations before the efforts were paused.
More importantly, he kept his job, according to UAW vice president Laura Dickerson, speaking at a political conference in Washington, who noted “This ain’t ‘The Apprentice’,” the reality show during which Trump would famously terminate contestants by saying, “You’re fired!”
Sabula kept his job and was not disciplined, Reuters reported. Dickerson said the union pushed to support Sabula’s right to free speech. The incident occurred Jan. 13. Trump was touring the Ford Rouge plant in Dearborn, accompanied by Ford Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Jim Farley, and others, when the incident occurred.
At an event later that evening in Detroit, Bill Ford avoided inflaming the issue further, saying only that it was “embarrassing.” Sabula is a UAW-represented hourly worker at the plant. Neither Ford Motor Co. nor the White House offered comment, Reuters noted.
"There was a worker at that plant that day who famously told Mr. Trump exactly what he thought of him," Dickerson said. "Unfortunately, in that moment we saw what the current president really thinks about working people and the way he responded — he gave us the middle finger."
[Images: White House]
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.
Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.
More by Michael Strong
Comments
Join the conversation
Oh, dear, a typo. I'm so terribly ashamed. Worse, my local Learing Center has gone bankrupt.
What bs. You learned how one rude person responds to another rude person. It worked out really well for one of them, since he kept his job is he going to keep the $800k?