Evangelical leader criticizes Trump for flipping off factory worker: 'Coarsening of civic conduct'
Employee raises over $600K after suspension
Quick Summary
- FRC President Tony Perkins decries "coarsening" of civic conduct after President Trump flips off a factory worker.
- The Ford employee was suspended after the incident.
- Over $800,000 has been donated through online campaigns to support the suspended worker.
A prominent conservative Evangelical political leader has criticized President Donald Trump's explicit gesture to a Ford factory worker in Michigan this week, calling out the "coarsening of our civic conduct."
Tony Perkins, who heads the Washington-based Christian conservative advocacy group Family Research Council, took to Facebook on Wednesday to respond to a news article about Trump's interaction with a factory worker who shouted at him.
Video of the encounter shared by TMZ shows Trump standing on an elevated walkway, shouting an obscenity and raising his middle finger after the factory worker reportedly called him a “pedophile protector," a reference to the ongoing controversy over the president's handling of federal records related to the late billionaire and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"We need to reverse this coarsening of our civic conduct," Perkins, who has also served as a Southern Baptist pastor, wrote. "Pray for our leaders to be role models, setting the example of civil dialogue, even when there is disagreement. Then we each need to do the same."
Perkins, who has in the past been among those who have criticized the president's push to weaken the Republican Party's stance on abortion, contends that "words have the power to build up or tear down."
Trump's tour of the Ford F-150 assembly facility in Dearborn was part of his efforts to bolster support for U.S. manufacturing ahead of the 2026 election cycle.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended Trump's interaction on Wednesday, telling CBS News that "[a] lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response."
The worker in question was subsequently suspended by Ford, according to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which represents employees at the plant. In a statement, the UAW identified the employee as a “proud member” of the union, adding that he “believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.”
“Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone — including the President of the United States,” the union added.
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford downplayed the event as an unfortunate “six-seconds” in an otherwise successful hour-long tour, expressing embarrassment but noting that most employees welcomed Trump with cheers, photos, and handshakes, according to Reuters.
A UAW Local 600 member and line worker at the Dearborn Truck Plant, TJ Sabula, 40, later identified himself as the heckler. Sabula confirmed his suspension with The Washington Post and said he had “definitely no regrets whatsoever.”
Following his encounter with Trump and suspension, over $800,000 has been raised between two onlinefundraising campaigns to support Sabula as of Thursday morning.
The confrontation between the sitting U.S. president and a factory worker drew comparisons to former President Joe Biden's confrontation with a factory employee in Detroit in March 2020, where Biden pointed his finger and used profanity to address the worker.
During a visit to a Fiat Chrysler assembly plant in Detroit as part of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden was approached by a worker in a hard hat who accused him of "actively trying to end our Second Amendment right" and attempting to "take away our guns," citing videos of Biden discussing gun control measures like banning assault weapons.
The exchange quickly escalated, with Biden retorting that the worker was "full of s—," insisting he supported the Second Amendment but opposed high-capacity magazines, asking, "Do you need 100 rounds?"
As the argument intensified, the worker pressed closer, declaring, "You’re working for me, man." Biden, standing mere inches away, pointed aggressively at the individual and replied, "I’m not working for you ... Give me a break, man. Don’t be such a horse’s a—."
Biden's aides intervened to pull him away, and his security team moved in as a precaution.
The worker, later identified as Jerry Wayne in interviews, described Biden as having "went off the deep end" and claimed he had approached respectfully but let the candidate "dig a hole" with his responses.
Unlike the Trump incident, there were no reports of suspension or formal repercussions for Wayne, though the clash drew widespread media attention.
