Jim Cornette donates $5,000 to Trump heckler

Jim Cornette announced this week that he donated $5,000 to the Ford factory worker who was recently suspended for heckling Donald Trump. 

The president—a WWE Hall of Famer—toured a Michigan Ford plant on Tuesday. An employee identified as TJ Sabula admitted to yelling “pedophile protector” at Trump, resulting in the president flipping him off. The incident, which was captured on video, resulted in Sabula being suspended from his job. 

Cornette has long been a vocal critic of Trump, and he posted about the factory incident on X. 

“So Shitler visited the Ford Plant–one of the workers called him a ‘pedophile protector’. Shitler said ‘F*** You’ and gave him the finger. We’re hearing the worker got suspended or fired. If anyone can hook me up with the REAL Ford worker I have $5,000 for him as a thank-you.”

Following reports about Sabula’s suspension, the controversial manager turned podcaster followed up with another X post that read: “If anyone knows TJ Sabula I have a thank-you, a handshake and a check for $5,000 ready for him.”

Cornette’s wife, Stacey, later confirmed on X that the donation was made to a GoFundMe set up for Sabula. Jim and Stacey Cornette’s names are also visible as top contributors on the GoFundMe page for Sabula. As of press time, the campaign has raised more than $480,000 for the suspended factory worker. 

Despite his suspension, Sabula has received the support of the auto workers union. Laura Dickerson, vice president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, said in a statement that the suspended auto worker “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,” Dickerson’s statement added. “Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States.”