Stephen Colbert Gives Verdict After Trump Gets Heckled by Ford Factory Worker
What To Know
- Stephen Colbert mocked Donald Trump’s response to a Ford worker who called him a “pedophile protector” during a Detroit plant visit, highlighting the incident in his monologue.
- Colbert questioned the whereabouts of the Jeffrey Epstein files, noting that despite a law mandating their release, the files remain largely unreleased.
- The Ford worker, TJ Sabula, was suspended following the confrontation, and Colbert praised his use of “precise language” in his criticism of Trump.
The Late Show host Stephen Colbert said Donald Trump‘s recent confrontation with a Ford factory worker brought up a good question: Where are the Jeffrey Epstein files?
During Wednesday’s (January 14) opening monologue, Colbert played a clip of the viral moment from Trump’s visit to a Ford plant in Detroit on Tuesday (January 13), during which an auto worker heckled the President, calling him a “pedophile protector.”
Trump responded to the man, later identified as Ford employee TJ Sabula, by reportedly shouting “f** you” twice and then flipping the bird. Sabula has since been suspended.
“Apparently, Trump has designated a new national bird,” Colbert quipped while zooming in on the President’s lewd hand gesture. “That’s a new one. The President of the United States publicly F-bombs and then flips somebody off. That is the most crudely hostile response from the leader of our country since Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan, ‘I’ll poop in every pot.'”
The late-night host added, “You gotta hand it to that auto worker for getting under Trump’s skin like compound butter on a Thanksgiving Turkey. And all because he brought up the Epstein files. Which reminds me, where are the Epstein files?”
Colbert then turned to look directly into the camera as the studio audience cheered. “Where are they?” he continued. “I thought… I don’t know… I remember, we were told that there would be Epstein files. In fact, you signed a law mandating that you would have to release the Epstein files by the middle of last month. But you still haven’t.”
“It kind of makes you seem like a… what’s the phrase?” the comedian added before shouting, “Pedophile protector!”
Colbert also gave props to the Ford auto worker for using “precise language” in his Trump insult. “He could have shouted pedophile, but until the full Epstein files are released, that’s just an unverified claim,” he noted. “Whereas pedophile protector is fairly in evidence at this point. And that’s the kind of attention to detail you can expect in your F-150.”
The host also pointed out that Sabula has been suspended from his job pending an investigation. “An investigation into what?” Colbert asked. “Yelling something true at Donald Trump isn’t the worst thing that’s happened at a Ford plant. That would be the Pinto.”
Back in November 2025, the House of Representatives passed a bill to release the Epstein files, which the Senate unanimously approved. Trump signed the bill the next day, requiring the Department of Justice to release the files within 30 days. The DOJ released some of the files by the December 19 deadline, but not all, and those that were released were heavily redacted.
You can watch Colbert’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS
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