Donald Trump appeared to mouth an expletive and stick up his middle finger after being heckled at an automotive plant in Michigan.
In a video obtained Tuesday by TMZ, the president was accosted by the off-camera heckler at the Ford factory in Dearborn, who can be heard calling him a “pedophile protector” – in apparent reference to the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.
Trump seemingly mouths “f*** you” back at the worker before walking off, waving and smiling.
The heckler has been identified by The Washington Post as TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old line worker at the factory. He is a member of the United Auto Workers Local 600 in Dearborn.
Sabula told the publication, “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” even though he said he’s been suspended from his job pending an investigation into the matter.
The worker claims he has been “targeted for political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.”
White House director of communications Steven Cheung said the president’s reaction was “appropriate.”
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” Cheung told The Independent in a statement.
The Independent has also contacted Ford for comment.
At the time of the incident, the president was taking a tour of the Ford F-150 plant, for which he was joined by Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman and grandson of Henry Ford, and Jim Farley, the company’s president and CEO.
Despite the heckling, elsewhere on the tour, workers were seen cheering and taking selfies with the president, according to The Washington Post.
Trump later gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.
The criticism of Trump as a “pedophile protector” comes after the administration and the Department of Justice continue to deal with the fallout from the president’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein – the disgraced financier.
Trump has consistently denied having ties to Epstein and has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, but the subject has dogged the first year of his second presidency and caused a schism among his MAGA supporters.
The likes of Marjorie Taylor Green and Thomas Massie defied the White House to force a November House vote compelling the Department of Justice to release all unclassified files connected to Epstein.
