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Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Britt Jones
The Ford worker who was suspended after Donald Trump appeared to ‘flip’ him off when he called him a ‘pedophile protector’ said he 'seized an opportunity'.
There’s never a dull moment when it comes to the US president’s public appearances, but when he visited the Michigan Ford plant, he probably didn’t expect to come face-to-face with someone with the gall to say his thoughts about the POTUS out loud.
In footage that caught the confrontation, Trump responded by appearing to say or mouth ‘f**k you’ and flipping them a middle finger for good measure.
A video, which was obtained by TMZ, shows someone seeming to shout out to the president before his reaction, though what was said remains unclear.
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According to the outlet, the person, who Fox claims is 40-year-old TJ Sabula, was calling Trump a ‘pedophile protector’, likely in reference to what many have seen as his delay in releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The Justice Department did go on to release thousands of documents, but for the most part, there were a lot of redactions, which even prompted former president Bill Clinton, who is named in the files, to ask for everything to be released in the name of full transparency.
After the video went around, Ford’s Executive Director of Corporate Communications David Tovar commented on the interaction, telling CNN: “We had a great event today and we’re proud of how our employees represented Ford.
“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 process led to the employee being suspended, but if you think he’s remorseful... buckle up.
Sabula told The Washington Post that he has ‘no regrets’ about what he said, telling the outlet: "As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever.”
The former worker went on to share that he was probably around 60 feet from the POTUS at the time, which allowed Trump to hear him ‘very, very, very clearly.’
He then claimed that he was ‘targeted for political retribution’ for ‘embarrassing Trump in front of his friends’ and fired.
"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."
On Reddit, commenters had a lot to say about the former worker, with one praising him as they wrote: “Losing a job is a small price to pay to earn the honor of being flipped off by the worst president America ever had.
“That guy's gonna be telling this story to his grandkids.”
Another revealed Sabula has a GoFundMe to help him financially while he is out of work.
While people online have had mixed reactions to Trump flipping him off, the White House later responded that it was the ‘appropriate’ reaction for the president to have.
“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.
So, that’s that.
LADbible Group has reached out to the White House and Ford for comment.