TJ Ducklo is the deputy press secretary for the Biden administration. He was suspended for one week on Friday for allegedly threatening a female reporter who was working on a story he did not want to be covered.
According to reports, Ducklo threatened to destroy her reputation and said “I will destroy you.”
Can you even begin to imagine the media’s reaction if a Trump official said that to a female journalist?
Vanity Fair reports:
“I WILL DESTROY YOU”: BIDEN AIDE THREATENED A POLITICO REPORTER PURSUING A STORY ON HIS RELATIONSHIP
White House official tried to quash a story about his relationship with a reporter by issuing threats and using derogatory language to another reporter pursuing it, according to two sources familiar with the incident.
In a sympathetic profile Monday, People revealed that White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo is dating Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond, who covered the Joe Biden campaign. But behind the scenes, Ducklo had previously lashed out at Politico reporter Tara Palmeri, who was reporting the story, exhibiting behavior that led to tense meetings between the Washington news outlet’s editors and senior White House officials.
After Vanity Fair published this account, the White House announced that Ducklo would be suspended for one week.
The confrontation began on Inauguration Day, January 20, after Palmeri, a coauthor of Politico’s Playbook, contacted McCammond for comment while one of her male colleagues left a message for Ducklo, according to the sources. Ducklo subsequently called a Playbook editor to object to the story, but was told to call the Playbook reporters with his concerns.
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But instead of calling the male reporter who initially contacted him, Ducklo tried to intimidate Palmeri by phone in an effort to kill the story. “I will destroy you,” Ducklo told her, according to the sources, adding that he would ruin her reputation if she published it.
The problem with suspending Ducklo, is that just three weeks ago Biden said that he would immediately fire anyone who behaved this way. See the video below:
Biden 3 weeks ago: "If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot, on the spot. No if, ands, or buts. Everybody — everybody is entitled to be treated with decency & dignity." pic.twitter.com/0QDHnyU3Jo
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 12, 2021
What a train wreck this administration is already. And in only three weeks.
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