We live in strange times, as evidenced by an incident that took place yesterday while President Donald Trump toured Ford’s truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
According to Michigan Advance, a Ford assembly-line worker called Trump, who was touring the plant before speaking at the Detroit Economic Club, a “pedophile protector”. Trump apparently heard, mouthed an expletive twice, and then gave the man the finger.
According to the United Auto Workers union, the man has been suspended. The length of the suspension is clear.
As you likely know, the president has been under fire due to his past friendship with the late Jeffery Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender who died in federal prison while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The president was once a friend of Epstein’s. There is an ongoing furor over whether the Department of Justice is taking too long or not to release files related to Epstein’s case — and whether Trump’s name is in the files, and if so, if that would be evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on the part of Trump. Or even if it would indicate behavior that is unethical and/or immoral if not illegal.
To this point, there is no evidence of Trump having committed any crimes related to Epstein.
Reporting by Michigan Advance shows that two Michigan-based U.S. Representatives — Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Rashida Talib (D-Detroit) claim that sources say the man, identified as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, may face disciplinary action. The two Democrats claim that when former president Barack Obama visited auto plants, workers said offensive things and weren’t disciplined.
This is a tricky case — the First Amendment protects Americans from suppression of their free-speech rights by the government, but not from their employer. This is why sports leagues can fine coaches for criticizing referees or why companies can fire employees for posting racist tweets on Twitter/X. So, Ford probably is in the clear to discipline the employee, but if what Talib and Dingell claim is true, there is some hypocrisy involved.
We truly do live in polarizing times.
[Image: Ford]
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