His term in office did not last long: White House spokesman TJ Ducklo was initially suspended because of alleged threats against a reporter. Now he stepped back.
White House spokesman TJ Ducklo, who was temporarily suspended on Friday over alleged threats against a journalist, has resigned. The chief spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden, Jen Psaki, said on Saturday (local time) that the President had accepted the resignation. Ducklo is said to have threatened journalist Tara Palmeri from the politics website “Politico” with “destroy” her.
The Psaki Declaration stated: “We undertake every day to strive in our words and actions to meet the standard set by the President and to treat others with dignity and respect (…).” The resignation was accepted on Saturday evening after a conversation with Ducklo.
Ducklo, who had worked as press spokesman for the Biden election campaign team last year, called his behavior on the online service Twitter “unbearable”. He used “language that no woman should ever hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she is just trying to do her job,” he wrote. He said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my colleagues in the White House and President Biden.”
Ducklo is said to have threatened Palmeri with the words “I will destroy you” in the phone call to ruin her reputation. The trigger was apparently Palmeri’s research into his relationship with a journalist from the “Politico” competitor “Axios”. Palmeri writes for the “Politico” newsletter, Playbook, which reports on the inner life of Washington and is eagerly followed by politicians, their staff, journalists and other politically interested parties.
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