The United Auto Workers line worker who called President Trump a “pedophile protector” on Tuesday, prompting an obscene gesture from the president, said he has “no regrets” about the incident.
In an interview with The Washington Post after the viral incident, 40-year-old TJ Sabula identified himself as the factory worker who shouted at the president. He said he has been suspended from his job pending an investigation.
“As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” Sabula told the Post.
Sabula added, however, that he is concerned about the future of his job and thinks he’s been “targeted for political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends,” the Post reported.
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told the news outlet. “And today I think I did that.”
During a tour of the Ford F-150 plant in Dearborn, Mich. on Tuesday, Trump was captured on video pointing at a factory worker and mouthing “f— you” twice in his direction. The president then made an obscene gesture with his middle finger toward the worker before continuing on his tour.
Moments earlier, an individual can be heard off camera shouting “pedophile protector” at the president. Sabula told the Post that his remark is a reference to Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.
The White House confirmed the gesture in a subsequent statement.
“A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said after the incident.
Sabula told the Post that he identifies as politically independent and has never voted for Trump. He said he has supported other Republicans.
The United Auto Workers Union confirmed in a statement that Sabula has been suspended.
Ford said “we don’t condone” the remarks but declined to comment on personnel matters.
“We had a great event yesterday 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,” the automaker said in a statement.
Updated at 9:27 a.m. EST