The White House has defended US President Donald Trump after he directed an offensive gesture at a heckler during a visit to a Ford factory in Detroit on Tuesday.
Footage of the incident, published by TMZ, appears to show Trump responding to a man who shouted at him from a distance. In a statement, the White House said:
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”
The heckler has since been suspended by Ford, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union told CBS News. Within 24 hours, two separate GoFundMe campaigns for the individual raised nearly $700,000 (£521,000) from more than 27,000 donors.
A Ford spokesperson told CBS:
“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.”
According to TMZ subtitles, the heckler called Trump a “paedophile protector.” In the clip, which shows Trump from a distance, the president appears to respond by mouthing an expletive and raising his middle finger.
The man, identified by The Washington Post as TJ Sabula, said he “has no regrets” about his actions. Sabula reportedly claimed that his remarks referred to Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.
Trump has faced calls for greater transparency regarding federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender. In December, he signed a law requiring the Department of Justice (DoJ) to release all files it held on Epstein by 19 December, although only a fraction of the documents have been made public.
Trump was once friends with Epstein but stated that their relationship ended years before Epstein’s first arrest. The former president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
The UAW, representing Sabula, defended his actions, stating:
“He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.”
Trump visited Detroit on Tuesday to give a speech at the Detroit Economic Club. His public use of expletives has drawn media attention previously, such as during comments about Iran and Israel last June.
Similarly, President Joe Biden also sparked controversy when he used an expletive during a conversation with a factory worker in Detroit while on the campaign trail in 2020, before his election.
