DETROIT (WXYZ) — During President Donald Trump's visit at the Ford plant in Dearborn on Tuesday, cellphone video posted on TMZ shows a fiery exchange between the president and a worker there.
That worker accused Trump of being a "pedophile protector.”
In response, the president was seen on camera mouthing an expletive at the Ford employee and raising his middle finger.
The United Auto Workers union confirmed the employee has been suspended.
7 News Detroit reached out to Ford for a comment. In a statement, they said:
“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.”
Watch coverage of Trump's visit below:
The White House issued a statement to CNN defending the president's response saying:
"A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambigous response."
United Auto Workers Vice President Laura Dickerson, who is also UAW's Ford Department Director, released a statement on Wednesday afternoon
“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.”
We’re working to learn more about the incident.
