Trump's week in review: Announces 'great healthcare plan,' freezes funding to sanctuary cities

4. Trump faces criticism for flipping off autoworker

As he toured a Ford factory in Michigan Tuesday, Trump was confronted by one of the plant’s workers. The employee shouted the phrase “pedophile protector” at the president as he walked on an elevated walkway above him, referring to the claim that Trump is working to conceal the release of all documents the government has in its possession related to the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The man's shouting didn't go unnoticed by Trump. Video footage documented the president giving the protester the middle finger and shouting an obscenity back at him. 

This did not sit well with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a socially conservative advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C. In a statement posted to Facebook Wednesday, Perkins commented on the exchange by insisting that “We need to reverse this coarsening of our civic conduct.”

“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,” he added. 

In a statement shared with CBS News, White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung defended Trump’s actions as “an appropriate and unambiguous response” to a “lunatic” who was “wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage.” 

The auto worker, who later identified himself as TJ Sabula, was suspended because of his behavior. Over $800,000 was raised for Sabula in two online fundraisers launched after his suspension.