NOT FIRED: Biden official threatened and sexually harassed female reporter and he still works at the White House

Remember the slimeball who attacked Bret Baier on-air after he questioned whether Biden was reading from a teleprompter when answering questions from votes? Well TJ Ducklo is now a White House official and he both threatened and sexually harassed a Politico reporter for wanting to report on his relationship with an Axios reporter. In response to his despicable behavior, Ducklo still works at the White House:

VARIETY – A 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. 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.

During the off-the-record call, Ducklo made derogatory and misogynistic comments, accusing Palmeri of only reporting on his relationship—which, due to the ethics questions that factor into the relationship between a journalist and White House official, falls under the purview of her reporting beat—because she was “jealous” that an unidentified man in the past had “wanted to fuck” McCammond “and not you.” Ducklo also accused Palmeri of being “jealous” of his relationship with McCammond. (Palmeri had no prior relationship or communication with McCammond before calling her to report on the Playbook item, which was a story that she was assigned and had not independently pursued.)

The following day, an editor at Politico reached out to the White House about Ducklo’s threats, spurring multiple conversations between the news outlet and senior-level officials on January 21, including White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, and Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn. In one of those calls, senior White House officials acknowledged that Ducklo’s handling of the call with Palmeri was inappropriate and said he would send a note to her apologizing for the comments. In another conversation, the same White House officials took aim at Palmeri by accusing her of breaking an off-the-record agreement with Ducklo and pressing Politico as to why the contents of the call had been revealed. Palmeri had only informed her editors of the contents of the call, which she had transcribed into her notes as it was happening, after they asked her about it.

So let me get this straight. After Psaki, Bedingfield and Anita Dunn heard about the grossly inappropriate behavior of Ducklo, they attacked his victim over at Politico for telling her bosses what happened because it was an ‘off-the-record’ call? That is disgusting and incredibly inappropriate.

The White House put out this statement on Ducklo:

Palmeri declined to comment. Psaki and Ducklo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. After publication, Psaki issued a statement: “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. In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret. With the approval of the White House Chief of Staff, he has been placed on a one-week suspension without pay. In addition, when he returns, he will no longer be assigned to work with any reporters at Politico.”

They are only suspending Ducklo for ONE WEEK and then he’s right back to work in the White House after his despicable comments. And they are doing this after Biden specifically said he would FIRE one of his officials on the spot if he ever heard about behavior like this in his White House:

“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 on his first day in the White House.

No ifs, ands, or buts? This sounds like big if, and, or but if you ask me. Assuming Biden heard about this, he’s not doing what he said he would, which is no big surprise.

What else is not a surprise is that this is not being scandalized by the media like it would have been if this happened in a Trump White House. If this were under Trump’s presidency, they would be a HUGE scandal and getting wall to wall coverage on all the big media outlets. But you can expect the media to ignore this because Biden is their president.


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