The Ford employee who found himself suspended following an encounter with Donald Trump, where the former president appeared to respond to a verbal jab by flipping him off, explained he ‘seized an opportunity’.
Presidential visits often come with unexpected moments, and during Trump’s trip to the Michigan Ford plant, he encountered an individual unafraid to voice his opinion directly to the president.
In a video capturing the incident, Trump seems to mouth ‘f**k you’ and accompanies it with a middle finger gesture in response to the provocation.
The footage, shared by TMZ, features someone yelling at the president, though the exact words are not clearly discernible.
Reports suggest the individual, identified by Fox as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, accused Trump of being a ‘pedophile protector’, likely referring to the controversy surrounding the delay in releasing Jeffrey Epstein-related documents.
While the Justice Department did release numerous documents, many were heavily redacted, prompting figures like former president Bill Clinton, who appears in the files, to advocate for full disclosure to ensure transparency.
Following the incident, Ford’s Executive Director of Corporate Communications, David Tovar, addressed the situation to 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 protocol resulted in Sabula’s suspension, though any expectation of remorse from him might be misplaced.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Sabula expressed he has ‘no regrets’ about his words, stating: “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever.”
Sabula recounted that he was approximately 60 feet from Trump at the time, allowing the president to hear him ‘very, very, very clearly.’
He also claimed he was subjected to ‘political retribution’ for ‘embarrassing Trump in front of his friends’ and subsequently dismissed.
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” he remarked. “And today I think I did that.”
On Reddit, the incident sparked various comments, with one user applauding Sabula, saying: “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 user mentioned that Sabula has created a GoFundMe to support himself financially during his period of unemployment.
While reactions to Trump’s gesture varied online, a statement from the White House later described it as the ‘appropriate’ response for the president.
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” stated White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.
And that concludes the matter.
The LADbible Group has contacted both the White House and Ford for comments.