WASHINGTON — A White House press aide was suspended for a week without pay on Friday, the administration announced, after a report detailed allegations that he verbally harassed and threatened a female reporter from Politico.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Friday that deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo had been suspended for one week without pay following a report from Vanity Fair that said Ducklo had threatened the reporter after he learned that Politico was planning to publish an article on his relationship with a reporter at Axios.
Ducklo is expected to return to work after the suspension. Ducklo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Joe Biden campaigned on a message that he would restore respect and civility to the White House, frequently criticizing the behavior of the previous president and his staff, including how the press was treated.
“I am not joking when I say this: If you are 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. No ifs, ands, or buts,” Biden said during a virtual swearing-in of appointees his first week in office.
People magazine reported this month that Ducklo, a former employee of the NBC News communications department, is dating Alexi McCammond, a reporter at Axios who is also a contributor for NBC and MSNBC, in an article that was tweeted approvingly by several top White House officials. Politico then reported that it had informed the White House that it intended to publish an article shortly before the People magazine article appeared.
Vanity Fair reported that Ducklo had called Tara Palmeri, a Politico reporter, and threatened her when he learned Politico had planned to publish an article.
The Vanity Fair article said that Ducklo made “derogatory and misogynistic comments” to Palmeri and threatened to “destroy” her.
Psaki said that Ducklo would no longer be assigned to work with Politico reporters once he returned from his suspension.
“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,” Psaki said in a tweet. “In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret.”
“I take this very seriously,” Psaki told reporters Friday afternoon. “He [Ducklo] is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the president nor is it the standard of behavior set by me.”
Psaki said that while she was not excusing Ducklo’s behavior, the story he discussed with the Politico reporter was about his personal life and not an issue related to White House policy. Psaki acknowledged that the White House did not immediately suspend Ducklo after learning of the incident, bur rather after they were made aware of the Vanity Fair article.
Psaki said that she had not discussed Ducklo’s behavior with Biden directly but had addressed it with White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
When asked how female reporters outside of Politico were supposed to feel comfortable working with Ducklo when he returns, Psaki reiterated that Ducklo’s behavior was “completely unacceptable” and that she had been clear “this will never happen again and is not going to be tolerated here at the White House.”
