In a shocking incident, Trump lost his temper and gave the middle finger to a heckler during his visit to a Ford factory, while the White House said it was an appropriate response.
U.S. President Donald Trump became the subject of criticism after a video surfaced showing him giving the middle finger to a person shouting insults during a visit to Ford's truck manufacturing plant in Michigan last Tuesday.
The video, released by entertainment website TMZ, showed Trump pointing his finger toward an off-camera individual, then moving his mouth as if speaking, before raising his middle finger toward the heckler, amid shouts calling him a "protector of child sex offenders."
The incident happened while Trump was visiting the Ford factory in Dearborn, before delivering a speech on the U.S. economy in Detroit later that day.
The White House defended Trump’s behavior. Stephen Cheung, White House Communications Director, said in a statement that a deranged individual shouted abusive language uncontrollably, and the president’s response was appropriate and clear.
Ford issued a statement through spokesperson David Tovar acknowledging awareness of the video, reiterating that "one of our core values is respect, and we do not tolerate inappropriate behavior in our facilities." The company noted it has procedures to handle such incidents but declined to disclose personnel details.
This event occurred amid growing attention to the Jeffrey Epstein case documents that the U.S. Department of Justice has been releasing under transparency laws, some of which mention Trump by name.
One set of documents published last month showed flight logs indicating Trump flew on Epstein's plane at least eight times during the 1990s, including one flight accompanied by an unnamed 20-year-old woman.
However, U.S. authorities have not charged Trump with any offense, and both he and the White House have consistently denied wrongdoing. The Department of Justice stated that some of the released documents contain untrue and sensational content and emphasized that the allegations are baseless.
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Source:NBC News
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