Thanedar Condemns Behavior Of Trump In Michigan

Photo: Thanedar Office

India-West Staff Reporter

DETROIT, MI – Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) condemned President Donald Trump in a statement this week, accusing him of disrespecting a Michigan auto worker and advancing economic policies that have harmed workers and manufacturers, particularly in the Detroit region.

“The other day, Donald Trump flipped off a local auto worker,” Thanedar said. He identified the worker as TJ Sabula, a resident of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, who was working at the Ford Motor plant in Dearborn at the time of the incident. Thanedar said Sabula was “expressing his First Amendment rights” when he “found himself on the receiving end of the President’s gesture.”

Trump as President indulged in a crass gesture to a person who could be heard calling him a “pedophile protector” in apparent reference to the White House stalling release of the Epstein Files, while he toured a Ford truck factory in Michigan.

Thanedar said while Sabula has been  suspended from his job, union support has followed. “Fortunately, his union, United Auto Workers, has his back, and has spoken out in support of him and has committed to representing him since he was flipped off by the President,” he said.

Calling the gesture offensive, Thanedar said the deeper harm to workers stems from Trump’s economic record. “But the real insult to our workers has come from Trump’s policies,” he said.

Thanedar disputed Trump’s recent claims about inflation and prices. Referring to Trump’s remarks that “inflation is defeated” and that “prices are down,” Thanedar responded, “The truth: yesterday’s inflation report from the BLS shows that prices are up, with food prices seeing their largest monthly increase in over three years.”

He also challenged Trump’s assertion that the country is in “the strongest and fastest economic turnaround in our country’s history.” Thanedar said, “The truth: last year was the weakest year for job growth since the pandemic, with job growth less than a third of what it was the year before.”

Turning to trade policy, Thanedar cited Trump’s oft repeated line that “tariff is my favorite word,” and blamed those policies for job losses. “Unfortunately, Trump’s tariff policies have devastated our economy,” he said. “Since he implemented them in April of last year, our economy has lost 72,000 manufacturing jobs, which has been especially damaging to the Detroit area due to the importance of manufacturing here.”