DETROIT — A Ford Motor Co. worker who heckled Donald Trump, prompting an obscene gesture from the president, during a Detroit-area factory visit on Tuesday, is at the center of a political firestorm over his exchange.

Video first published by TMZ and confirmed as authentic by the White House captures a person at Dearborn Truck yelling "pedophile protector" at Trump, who seemingly mouthed back an expletive and flipped his middle finger in the shouter's direction.

Dearborn Truck plant line worker TJ Sabula told The Washington Post that he was the one who shouted at the president during the tour and said he has no regrets, although he's worried about his job after being suspended with pay following the exchange.

“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told the Post. “And today I think I did that.”

The brief, heated exchange prompted the White House to describe the heckler as "a lunatic" who "was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage."

“And the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.

More than $530,000 had been raised through two online fundraisers for Sabula — a GoFundMe titled "TJ Sabula is a patriot!! and another headlined Support Ford Worker TJ Sabula during suspension — as of Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier Wednesday, in a statement, Ford spokesperson Dave Tovar said respect is a core Ford value, "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," Tovar said. "But we don’t get into specific personnel matters."

The Dearborn automaker's executive chair, Bill Ford, told reporters Tuesday on the floor of the Detroit Auto Show that Sabula's "discipline is in the hands of the organization."

Ford said he was embarrassed by the interaction and that "99% of the employees in the plant were great" during the visit by Trump.

"But that was six seconds out of an hour tour, and the tour went great," Ford said. "And I think he really enjoyed it, and we did, too. I understand that that gets a lot of social media play, and that's the world we live in, but it was a very small part of the day.”

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who said she spoke to Sabula, said after the worker shouted at the president, Trump mouthed to him: “You're fired.” Then Ford personnel removed the employee from the floor, Tlaib said.

“Right after that, they walked him out of the plant as if he committed some sort of theft, a crime of some sort,” Tlaib said.

Tlaib called Sabula a “hero” for exercising his First Amendment rights and said Ford’s response to the episode has been shameful.

“I mean, the right to dissent, the right to use that beautiful First Amendment right to any public elected person needs to be cherished and supported, not demeaned and disrespected by the Ford Motor Company,” she said.

Tlaib said she is concerned for the worker’s safety now, and added she had expressed her frustrations and worries to Ford, which has responded that it’s a personnel issue.

“I'm really taken aback by Bill Ford, the family, the company, proceeding in a way that I feel like was a disregard to the safety and the mental health, honestly, of their workers,” Tlaib said.

The United Auto Workers confirmed that Sabula is a member of Workers Local 600. Nick Kottalis, chairman of the local, said the union "will be representing him at the highest level."

"Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone — including the president of the United States," UAW Ford Department Director Laura Dickerson said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said she learned about the incident on the floor of the House from colleagues and others who had seen the TMZ video.

“It clearly happened in an emotional moment," Dingell told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "I have been in contact with the UAW, the employee and with Ford, and am hoping that we can keep the whole situation calm. I hope that he doesn’t get fired.

“I want to see a strong, thriving industry and company," Dingell added, "and I don't want to see consequences to the employee or the company coming out of this moment amid a very volatile time.”

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday for a fireside chat with Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz, also weighed in on the controversy.

“I don't know much about the HR side of it," Buttigieg said. "What I know is that President Trump did literally what I believe he's been doing figuratively for some time, which is give auto workers the finger. ... In some ways, it's just in character for him to be that way.”

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(Detroit News politics editor Chad Livengood contributed to this story.)

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