Pete Buttigieg criticizes Trump over Ford factory’s reported actions against auto workers
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Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday after reports that the president verbally abused a pedestrian during a visit to a Ford factory in Michigan.
Speaking at the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit, Buttigieg said the reported incident shows what he described as a broader pattern in Trump’s treatment of auto workers.
“I don’t know much about the story [human resources] by your side,” Buttigieg said. “What I do know is that President Trump has done what I believe he’s been doing symbolically for a long time, which is to give workers the finger.”
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Former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks at the Mobility Global Forum at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show Jan. 14, 2026, Detroit. (Photos by Bill Pugliano/Getty / Getty Images)
Buttigieg accused Trump of being a “unionist” and blamed him for creating job losses across the country.
“Look, he was a unionist,” Buttigieg said. “He has overseen the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. Then when someone sees someone as powerful as him walking into his workplace, they give him the old ‘FU’.
“In a way, it’s just his behavior. And obviously I feel for the employee and not the president.”
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President Donald Trump, center, walks with Bill Ford, left, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and Ford CEO Jim Farley as they tour the Ford River Rouge Complex Jan. 13, 2026, in Dearborn, Mich. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The comments followed a video, first published by TMZ, that appears to show Trump swearing and making an obscene gesture toward a thug during a visit Tuesday to Ford’s River Rouge facility in Dearborn, Michigan.
In the photo, Trump briefly turns to a shouter in the crowd and appears to say the words “f— you” twice while raising his middle finger before continuing to walk away.
TMZ reported that the exchange followed a hacker insulting the president off camera. The source described Trump’s reaction as “flipping the bird” as he continued to walk.
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Ford signs at a dealership in Richmond, Calif., June 21, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the president’s response, telling Fox News Digital, “The lunatic was screaming with rage, and the President gave an appropriate and vague response.”
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The motorist who was stopped is said to have said “he has no regrets.”
The White House and Pete Buttigieg could not be reached for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Skye Baehr and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
