Reporters weighed in on the suspension of deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo Friday, and many questioned if he’d be fired after threatening to “destroy” a Politico reporter who was looking into his relationship with another member of the press.
Reporters were quick to point out that after his inauguration, President Biden claimed he would have a zero-tolerance policy regarding staff misconduct. This policy didn’t seem to be enforced with Ducklo, who was just suspended without pay for a week.
“We’ll need way more than a tweet to claim anyone’s being even held remotely accountable,” journalist and Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway tweeted Friday. “President Biden received adulatory coverage from the media when he claimed he had zero tolerance for disrespectful behavior from his employees. Was that true? Has TJ Ducklo been fired yet?”
“I covered Donald Trump for six years. It is saying something that this behavior — from a Biden official — shocks me,” New York Magazine political reporter Olivia Nuzzi wrote on Twitter.
According to a report from Vanity Fair, Ducklo told Politico Playbook reporter Tara Palmieri “I will destroy you” and accused Palmeri of being “jealous” of his relationship with Axios political reporter Alexi McCammond. When Ducklo found out about the story, he reportedly called Palmeri to berate her, but not her male colleagues also assigned to reporting the story.
Ducklo was suspended after the news broke Friday, and the White House said that Ducklo won’t work with Politico reporters in the future.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged the incident in a statement, and called the exchange between Ducklo and Palmeri a “heated conversation about his personal life.” Psaki defended Ducklo but did acknowledge that his conduct wasn’t to the standard that President Joe Biden set on his first day in office.
Check out more reactions from the media on Ducklo’s conduct below.
President Biden on Jan 20:
“I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.” https://t.co/c1yZn3WzK1
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 12, 2021
TJ Ducklo threatened to destroy Politico reporter Tara Palmeri and brought up her sex life to intimidate her, Jen. https://t.co/iNsrYbuUQw
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) February 12, 2021
We’ll need wayyyyy more than a tweet to claim anyone’s being held even remotely accountable. Maybe one of those 3-days-of-absolute-hysteria-in/on-every-media-outlet news cycles like we saw ad nauseum in recent years. But it is a start, yes.
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 12, 2021
President Biden received adulatory coverage from the media when he claimed he had zero tolerance for disrespectful behavior from his employees. Was that true? Has TJ Ducklo been fired yet?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 12, 2021
A White House official told a reporter pursuing a story about his relationship with another reporter that he would “destroy” her and that she was “jealous” of his relationship with his girlfriend. He brought up her sex life to belittle and intimidate her. https://t.co/cevSxv0hIw pic.twitter.com/xkxUuC2jdo
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 12, 2021
I covered Donald Trump for 6 years. It is saying something that this behavior — from a Biden official — shocks me.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 12, 2021
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1360289603694043136
He needs to be fired.
— Andy Kopsa ???? (@andykopsa) February 12, 2021
It's TJ Ducklo's time in the barrel.
— Jack Shafer (@jackshafer) February 12, 2021
tj ducklo obviously should not work with press and we also should not tie health insurance to employment
— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) February 12, 2021
ducklo hunt
— meaning machine (@EricThurm) February 12, 2021
It took *23 questions* until someone in the White House Press Corps (CNN's Kaitlan Collins here) asked Jen Psaki about TJ Ducklo
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 12, 2021
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