US President Donald Trump raised his ‌middle finger and appeared to direct profanity towards a factory worker who expressed ‍criticism of his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy at a Michigan auto plant on Tuesday, video circulating online showed.

The entertainment site TMZ first published video capturing the exchange, and the White House did not dispute its authenticity.

“A lunatic was ⁠wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in an email.

Trump was touring the Ford F-150 assembly facility in Dearborn when a worker on the plant floor shouted what sounded like “paedophile protector” as the ‍president stood on an elevated walkway, the video showed.

Trump turned towards the individual and appeared to respond ‍with an expletive before making a hand gesture with his middle finger as he walked off.