In mid-January 2026, rumors circulated online that Ford Motor Co. suspended an autoworker from his job after he heckled U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit to a Michigan factory.
The rumor spread widely on social media after a popular X account shared the claim (archived), claiming that the worker called Trump a "pedophile protector" and was suspended as a result.
Other users sharing the rumor on X (archived) included purported video of the incident, which ended with Trump apparently giving the worker the middle finger.
⚡️🇺🇸BREAKING:
TJ Sabula, the worker who shouted at Trump, has been suspended.
This started when Trump showed his middle finger and appears to say "fuck you" after Ford worker yells "pedophile protector". Now that worker has been suspended. pic.twitter.com/j1o5Q5qx95— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws1) January 14, 2026
The incident occurred Jan. 13, 2026, during Trump's visit to a Ford facility in Dearborn.
TJ Sabula, reportedly a 40-year-old United Auto Workers Local 600 line worker at the factory, told The Washington Post he was the person who shouted at Trump in the video and said he had been suspended from work pending an investigation. Multiple people launched crowdfunding efforts on GoFundMe to raise money for Sabula.
As of this writing, Snopes was unable to independently confirm Sabula's identity or his suspension, so we have left this claim unrated.
According to the Post, Sabula said he had "no regrets whatsoever" about his actions but expressed concern about the future of his position. The outlet reported Sabula believed he was being "targeted for political retribution" after "embarrassing Trump in front of his friends."
Video of the incident published by the tabloid news outlet TMZ depicted Trump walking out of the factory as somebody off camera shouted at him. The person in the video called Trump a "pedophile protector," alluding to his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump then pointed down toward the heckler and appeared to mouth "f*** you" twice before very clearly giving the middle finger.
Snopes reached out to Sabula via Facebook Messenger to confirm
In an email to Snopes, a White House spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the video and defended Trump's reaction, writing, "A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response."
Ford did not respond to Snopes' request for comment, but TMZ reported that a company spokesperson provided the following statement:
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.
Laura Dickerson, a vice president of UAW, the labor union that reportedly represented Sabula, appeared to confirm his suspension in an online statement that read:
The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union —the UAW. He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.
The UAW will ensure that our member receives the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member.
Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States.
Dickerson's statement also was posted to the UAW Facebook page (archived).
In sum, rumors of Sabula's suspension following the confrontation with Trump appeared to be true, but Snopes was unable to confirm this directly with him as of publication. We will update this story if new information becomes available.