Pro wrestling legend Jim Cornette makes huge donation to suspended worker who humiliated US President Trump in public
President Donald Trump’s latest confrontation with a factory worker has sparked an unexpected show of support from the world of professional wrestling.
On Wednesday, longtime wrestling manager Jim Cornette donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe campaign created for a Ford employee who heckled Trump during a plant visit earlier this week. The worker, later identified as 40-year-old TJ Sabula, was suspended after the incident.
Video from Tuesday’s tour of the Ford River Rouge plant in Dearborn shows Trump reacting angrily to someone in the crowd. The president can be heard saying “f*** you” and making an obscene gesture after Sabula shouted “pedophile protector.” Sabula later confirmed that he was the one who yelled the remark.
Cornette quickly made his position clear. Writing on social media Wednesday morning, he said, “If anyone knows TJ Sabula, I have a thank-you, a handshake and a check for $5,000 ready for him.” Within hours, Cornette and his wife, Stacey, located the GoFundMe page and made the donation. Their contribution is now listed among the largest on the campaign, tied with another $5,000 gift. Cornette has continued to share the fundraiser link and related posts across his platforms.
Known for decades as one of wrestling’s most outspoken personalities, Cornette built his career largely as a heel manager, playing the villain opposite some of the sport’s biggest stars. He also worked as an announcer and operated his own promotion, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, from 1991 to 1995. Although he has never been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.
The White House defended Trump’s reaction. Communications director Steven Cheung issued a statement following the incident, saying, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”
Ford acknowledged that the exchange occurred but said it would not comment on specific employee matters. The suspension prompted a strong response from the United Auto Workers. Laura Dickerson, the union’s vice president and director of the Ford Department, issued a statement backing Sabula.
“The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union—the UAW,” Dickerson said. “He 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 members receive the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding their jobs and their rights as union members. “Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behavior by anyone—including the President of the United States.”
Public support has grown quickly. By Wednesday afternoon, two separate fundraisers benefiting Sabula had raised more than $720,000, turning a brief confrontation into a national flashpoint with serious financial and political implications.
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