What you need to know
A Ford plant worker who called President Donald Trump the “protector of pedophiles” insisted he has “no remorse” after being suspended pending a company investigation.
According to the Washington Post, on Tuesday, January 13, President Trump, 79, was caught on camera raising his middle finger and yelling “Fk you” at the man in question, who was later identified as TJ Sabra, 40, a United Auto Workers Local 600 line worker at the Ford F-150 plant in Michigan. This video was first posted by TMZ.
President Trump visited the Ford F-150 factory where Sabra worked on Tuesday before speaking at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan.
After the incident, Sabra told The Washington Post that she was suspended pending an investigation.
“I have absolutely no regrets about calling him out,” Sabra told the paper, although he admitted he was concerned about the future of his job.
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Sabra, who identifies as a political independent, has heckled Trump over the ongoing controversy over the release of the full Epstein files, adding to the outlet that he believes he is being “subjected to political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.”
Sabra said he has never voted for Trump, but has supported other Republicans in the past, according to the Washington Post.
The newspaper added that the president heard what he said “very, very, very clearly,” estimated that the president was about 60 feet away when he yelled, and revealed that the comment was about how Trump handled the issue of Jeffrey Epstein, the paper said.
“I don’t think fate will come your way very often. When it does, you’d better be ready to take a chance,” Sabra added on Tuesday’s news program. “And today I think I did that.”
The White House and Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment from PEOPLE.
When asked about Tuesday’s incident, White House spokesman Stephen Chan previously said in a statement to PEOPLE that “a madman was in complete rage, shouting profanities, and the President responded appropriately and unambiguously.”
A Ford spokesperson told TMZ on Tuesday, “We had a great event today and are proud that our employees represent Ford. We saw the footage you refer to. One of our core values is respect, and we will not tolerate anyone who says such inappropriate things within our facilities. If something like that happens, we have processes to address it, but we will not get into specific personnel issues.”
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President Trump continues to downplay his friendship with Epstein, even though they have been photographed together numerous times since Epstein began his second term as president.
The disgraced investor was arrested in July 2019 and charged with one count of sex trafficking of a minor and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor. Although he maintained his innocence, he died by suicide in his cell at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019.
After a Dec. 19 release deadline mandated by Congress passed, the Justice Department released thousands of documents related to Epstein, but Justice Department officials told a federal judge that more than 2 million documents remained unreleased, The Washington Post reported on Jan. 6.
“The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 additional pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein,” the Justice Department said in a Dec. 23 statement. “Some of these documents contain false and sensational claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI just before the 2020 election.”
“Let me be clear: this allegation is baseless and false, and if it had any credibility whatsoever, it would undoubtedly have already been used as a weapon against President Trump,” the statement continued. “Nevertheless, because of our commitment to the law and transparency, the Department of Justice is releasing these documents with legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual abuse, please text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line (741-741). Connect with a certified crisis counselor.
