White House spokesman TJ Ducklo has been banned for a week after intimidating and threatening Politico journalist Tara Palmeri. She was, to his dismay, working on an article about Ducklo’s relationship with a political reporter from the news site Axios , Vanity Fair writes .
The incident happened during an off-the-record telephone conversation between Ducklo and Palmeri. “I will destroy you,” said the White House spokesman, who also made misogyny remarks, suggesting that Palmeri was jealous.
The incident was confirmed Friday by press secretary Jen Psaki. “TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life.”
TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 12, 2021
“He is the first to recognize that this is not the behavior the president wants to see,” Psaki said. After his suspension, Ducklo will no longer work with reporters from Politico . The president was not involved in the suspension, Psaki stressed.
It is striking that it stuck to this sentence, as Joe Biden warned his staff on his first day as president to be respectful of others. “I’m not kidding when I say this: if you work for me and I hear that you treat another colleague with disrespect or talk someone else down, then I don’t hesitate for a second to dismiss you on the spot,” said the president. not a month ago.
Ducklo (32) is in a relationship with Alexci McCammond from Axios . The two met during Joe Biden’s election campaign. McCammond has stopped reporting to the White House to avoid a conflict of interest.