White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo was suspended for a week without pay after he allegedly threatened to “destroy” a female reporter over a story about his private life. Suspension was given to Ducklo after a Vanity Fair story reported that Ducklo had threatened Politico’s reporter Tara Palmeri who was investigating Ducklo’s relationship with another journalist.
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Vanity Fair reported that White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo allegedly was engaged in a verbal confrontation with a female reporter from Politico
- The reporter was covering a story on Ducklo’s romantic relationship with another journalist
- Following the report, Ducklo was suspended for a week
- Day after suspension, Ducklo resigned from White House
Ducklo, on Saturday, resigned from White House and his resignation was also accepted in the evening. In a statement, he expressed his regret and embarrassment at the situation.
Taking full responsibility for his callous behavior, he apologized unconditionally for his abhorrent and disrespectful language towards a woman which was unacceptable.
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On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Pskai had initially informed that Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay and had also apologized to Palmeri. Commenting on the suspension, Pskai said that the suspension was a key step to send a message that such behavior is unacceptable.
However, some observers had criticized the newly elected US President Joe Biden for failing to take stronger action. Biden had previously told his staff on his first day that he would not tolerate bullying behavior and said that he would fire any staff “on the spot” for speaking disrespectfully to colleagues.
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Palmeri was investigating Ducklo’s relationship with Alexi McCammond, a journalist with Axios who had earlier covered Biden’s election campaign. As reported by Vanity Fair, Palmeri had reached out to McCammond to cover the story about her relationship with Ducklo and a male Politico reported had contacted Ducklo. However, Ducklo allegedly called Palmeri and threatened that he will destroy her. He also made other misogynistic and derogatory remarks.
