Biden aide quits after alleged threat to ‘destroy’ journo

WASHINGTON – The White House yesterday said it has accepted the resignation of a staffer who allegedly threatened to “destroy” a reporter asking about his personal life.

White House deputy spokesman T.J. Ducklo was originally suspended for one week without pay, but now, the administration of President Joe Biden has accepted his resignation, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a statement.

According to Vanity Fair magazine, Ducklo called Politico reporter Tara Palmeri after she began asking questions about his months-old personal relationship with a journalist from Politico rival Axios, Alexi McCammond.

“I will destroy you,” Ducklo allegedly told Palmeri in a phone call shortly after Biden’s January 20 inauguration.

According to Vanity Fair, Ducklo “made derogatory and misogynistic comments” to Palmeri, and called her “jealous”.

Psaki said the White House accepted Ducklo’s resignation after speaking with him yesterday evening, and is acting with the support of the White House chief of staff.

“We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the president in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility, and with a value for others, through our words and our actions,” said Psaki.

As the story broke on Friday, Psaki said Ducklo apologised to the reporter “with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life”.

Ducklo, who was national press secretary for Biden’s 2020 election campaign, issued a statement on Twitter addressing his “intolerable actions”.

“No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behaviour. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job.

“It was language that was abhorrent, disrespectful and unacceptable.”

He added that he is “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden”.

Politico Playbook, the Washington politics tip and gossip newsletter that Palmeri reports for, this week said McCammond made it public last November that she was dating Ducklo.

A day after being sworn in as president, Biden warned his White House staff against mistreating others.

“I’m 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 will fire you on the spot.” – AFP, February 14, 2021