By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The United Auto Workers union said on Monday a Ford worker who heckled U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit last month to a Michigan auto plant was not disciplined and kept his job.
The incident prompted Trump to raise his middle finger and shout profanity toward the worker who criticized Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, according to the UAW and video posted online.
Trump also told worker Thomas “TJ” Sabula he would be fired, said UAW vice president Laura Dickerson, speaking at a political conference in Washington.
“This ain’t ‘The Apprentice’,” she said, referring to the reality show Trump hosted before becoming president, in which contestants were dismissed at the end of each episode if they performed badly in tasks.
She said the union supported Sabula’s free speech rights and told attendees he still has his job and “has no discipline on his record.”
Ford did not immediately comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump was touring the Ford F-150 assembly plant in Dearborn when a worker on the plant floor shouted what sounded like “pedophile protector” as the president stood on an elevated walkway, a video showed. Trump turned toward the individual and appeared to respond with an expletive before making a hand gesture with his middle finger as he walked off.
“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.”
Online fundraising campaigns for Sabula topped more than $800,000 before they were suspended.
Ford’s executive chairman Bill Ford, speaking with the media after the factory tour, called the incident unfortunate and said he was embarrassed by it.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nia Williams)
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