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(New York) Ford has suspended one of its employees who questioned Donald Trump on Tuesday during his visit to a factory of the American group, the automobile union United Auto Workers (UAW), of which the worker is a member, said on Wednesday.
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Asked by AFP, Ford did not immediately respond.
According to a video that circulated on social networks, the employee of this assembly site in Dearborn (Michigan) shouted “pedophile protector” at the American president, who responded with a middle finger.
Shortly after the incident, the White House communications director described the individual as a “crazy person” in the middle of a “fit of rage” and considered that Donald Trump had responded “completely adequately”.
TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old Ford employee, told Washington Post that he was the author of the apostrophe and had been suspended by the group while an internal investigation was completed.
He clarified that his invective referred to the close relationship that the head of state long maintained with the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019, a file which earned Donald Trump criticism within his own political camp.
Stating that he had “no regrets”, the worker nevertheless admitted to fearing for his job and feeling “targeted by political vengeance” for having “embarrassed Trump in front of his friends”.
This employee “believes in freedom of expression, a principle we fully cherish,” the UAW responded on social network X, “and we stand with our members when it comes to protecting their right to express themselves in the workplace.”
The union promised to “ensure” that the employee would benefit from the protection provided in the collective agreement negotiated between the UAW and the management of the automobile manufacturer.
“Workers should never be subjected to vulgar comments or behavior by anyone, including the President of the United States,” the organization insisted.
A fundraiser launched on the GoFundMe site entitled “TJ Sabula is a patriot! » had collected more than $350,000 by midday on Wednesday.
Congress adopted a law forcing the government of Donald Trump to publish, no later than December 19, 2025, the documents relating to the Epstein affair in the possession of the American Department of Justice, but the latter admitted in early January to having only made less than 1% accessible so far.
