Experts weigh in on Ford autoworker suspension after incident with President Trump

Ford autoworker suspended after incident with President Trump

A viral video of the President of the United States flipping off an autoworker has gone viral. That autoworker has been suspended, but public support through a GoFundMe has raised the autoworker thousands of dollars.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Money is being raised for the autoworker who was suspended from his job at Ford after getting into a heated back and forth with President Donald Trump.

It was caught on video during Trump's visit to Michigan and quickly spread across the internet.

Big picture view:

On Tuesday, video from inside the Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn showed President Trump apparently flipping off a worker.

The president appeared to curse at the worker as well. Identified as 40-year-old T.J. Sabula, he had yelled at the president before Trump responded. The video was obtained by TMZ and according to reports, it sounds like the worker yelled "pedophile protector" toward Trump, who was on a catwalk.

"The guy that was heckling him - that was his first amendment right to heckle," said Vance Patrick, who leads the Oakland County Republican Party. "Trump is a blue-collar guy and he just responded the way a blue collar guy would."

Dig deeper:

Sabula worked 10 years at Ford but after this incident, he was suspended, likely without pay. 

However, a GoFundMe account supporting the worker and shared by Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib has reached nearly $1 million in donations. 

"Guess what also happens people flipped the other guy off.  We see what is here. It was tipped for that in its own way and you know he said something that he shouldn’t have said, and there was a reaction very strong reaction, which probably shouldn’t have occurred either," said employment law attorney Deborah Gordon.

Both experts agree that the autoworker may be suspended, but not lose his job.

Local perspective:

Trump's tour of the Dearborn Ford plant came before the president spoke in front of the Detroit Economic Club.

In his first visit to the club since last April, the president said he decided to stop at a Ford facility because the automaker assembles 80% of its vehicles domestically.

"I don't even think about the USMCA," he said. "I want Mexico and Canada to survive, but we don't need their product. We want cars built here. They are all doing "They just said their business is better than ever. They are doing around the clock, they are doing expansions they are building more plants in the United States because of tariffs," Trump said. "Before it only used to go three hours around the clock."

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said the plant is expanding to 24-hour shifts, six days a week.