A WWE legend sent a donation of $5,000 to the GoFundMe set up for the former Ford employee sacked for his comment to Donald Trump.
Last week, the US president visited Ford's River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan but ended up being caught in a hugely viral incident.
TJ Sabula, a member of UAW (United Auto Workers) Local 600, heckled the 79-year-old and shouted “Paedophile protector!”.
Steven Cheung, the White House's Press Secretary, described the 40-year-old as a “lunatic screaming expletives”.
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TMZ footage shared online showed that Trump gave Sabula the middle finger and reportedly “F***you!” twice. White House communications director said it was an “appropriate and unambiguous response" from the 45th and 47th US president.
Sabula was swiftly suspended without pay for falling afoul of “appropriate conduct” of Ford's employee policies.
However, a GoFundMe campaign titled "TJ Sabula is a patriot!!" garnered over $480,755 in donations as fans flocked to "help him pay some bills".
One of the donations came from Jim Cornette, a legendary former WWE manager who also had backstage roles in the company.
The 64-year-old has been critical of Trump's policies and having seen the news, took to his official X account to write: "If anyone knows TJ Sabula I have a thank-you, a handshake and a check for $5,000 ready for him".
On his podcast, Brian Last, Cornette discussed the situation at length and further explained why he donated.
“I saw that clip of this working man, a guy who actually produces something for this country, standing up to that orange, bloated, treasonous sack of oatmeal," he fumed.
"And then Ford—those corporate sycophants—suspend the guy? For telling the truth about the Epstein files? I told Brian, ‘Get the checkbook.’ We’re sending five thousand to make sure TJ doesn’t lose a wink of sleep over his mortgage.”
The donation was confirmed by Cornette's wife Stacy on social media and Cornette's move follows on from WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley quitting the company due to ties to Trump.
Sabula's case is being reviewed by his union but after the GoFundMe was transferred to him, he paused the campaign and put out a message encouraging the public to donate elsewhere.
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In a comment, he wrote: "We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support! At this time we are closing donations to this campaign and encourage you to look for other causes and organizations to support. We appreciate every single donation, comment, share, and sign of support!"
He told the Washington Post that he did not regret his actions and did it because he did not agree with the way in which the the Epstein Files Transparency Act was handled by Trump's administration.
Topics: WWE, Donald Trump
Josh Lawless