A former Ford employee who was suspended after heckling President Donald Trump is set to receive at least $810,000 through fundraisers on his behalf.
TJ Sabula, 40, was in attendance during Trump’s tour of the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan, on Wednesday when the incident occurred. As Trump walked above the work site, Sabula shouted that he was a “pedophile protector.” The exchange was caught on camera and released by TMZ. Trump responded by flipping off Sabula.
Ford suspended Sabula while the company reviews the exchange. According to one fundraiser, Sabula was suspended without pay and is a father to two children.
As of Thursday morning, one GoFundMe campaign raised over $330,000, and a second raised over $480,000 for Sabula. Nearly 35,000 donors have participated in both fundraisers.
One fundraiser included a screenshot of Trump’s middle finger. In an update, the organizer wrote that GoFundMe “asked to change the cover photo to align with GoFundMe community policies.” A new picture was uploaded with a bird covering Trump’s hand.
Sabula has also received support from Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who shared the video on X.
“He’s right. The president is, in fact, protecting pedophiles,” Tlaib wrote on Wednesday. “Don’t come to my district and expect a warm welcome. Release the Epstein files!”
Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) expressed hope that Sabula would get his job back in an X post on Wednesday.
“TJ Sabula, my constituent & a UAW worker, has been suspended after Trump flipped HIM off and said “F*** you” to him. This is unacceptable. NEVER believe MAGA when they cry about the 1st amendment,” Thanedar wrote. “Since Trump can’t fire me, I’ll say it: Donald Trump is a pedophile protector.”
However, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pointed out that the freedom of speech allotted by the First Amendment is not applicable in every situation. He reacted to the video on Piers Morgan Uncensored on Wednesday.
“People think that freedom of speech means you can say anything you want, anywhere you want, but if you work for me and I’m Mr. Ford and I say you have to behave with decorum, whether it’s President Obama or President Trump, I’ll fire your ass if you’re not polite and you need to be polite,” Paul said. “At your workplace, you’ve got to. You do not have freedom of speech to call your boss a knucklehead.”
Paul stopped short of condemning the president for the hand gesture.
“Whether the president was inappropriate or not, I’m not going to make a judgment on it. I wasn’t there, I didn’t hear it,” he said. “But I think it’s a useful lesson about speech that you can say anything you want, the government shouldn’t put you in jail, but your employer has no obligation to keep you on if you’re rude when you’ve invited the president to your business.”
United Auto Workers Vice President Laura Dickerson said the union, of which Sabula is a member, “wholeheartedly embraces” freedom of speech at the workplace.
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“Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States,” Dickerson said in a statement.
UAW has not suspended Sabula from the union, as it reserves that right under its constitution.