Biden White House suspends deputy press secretary for threatening Politico journalist; he later resigns

After news broke that the White House deputy press secretary verbally threatened a journalist who had tried to profile his romantic relationship with an Axios political reporter, the Biden White House suspended the official for a week. He later resigned from his post. 

Key Players

TJ Ducklo served as the White House deputy press secretary during the first days of Joe Biden’s presidency. Prior to working in the West Wing, Ducklo had been Biden’s campaign press secretary.

Tara Palmeri is a journalist for Politico and co-author of Politico’s Playbook, a daily politics newsletter. 

Alexi McCammond is a reporter for the news website Axios. She also covered Biden’s campaign. 

Further Details

McCammond first met Ducklo in 2019 while covering Biden’s presidential campaign. They began dating in November 2020, according to the New York Post. After she disclosed this relationship to her bosses that month, Axios reassigned McCammond to cover a beat focusing on progressive lawmakers and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to The New York Times. 

“When my personal life had the potential to interfere with my work, I didn’t think twice about sharing my happiness in November with Axios,” McCammond told People magazine. Politico ran a feel-good story about the couple’s complex professional relationship and McCammond’s role in supporting Ducklo as he received treatment for stage-four lung cancer. 

On Jan. 20, 2021, the day of Biden’s Inauguration, Palmeri contacted McCammond for comment after being assigned to pursue the story for Politico’s Playbook, while a male colleague left a message for Ducklo. After being told by a Politico editor to direct any concerns he had with the story toward the Playbook reporters themselves, Ducklo called Palmeri. In an effort to kill the story, he told her that he would “destroy” her and ruin her reputation if she proceeded, according to Vanity Fair.

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 Feb. 9, Palmeri’s report appeared in Politico’s Playbook Newsletter, chiding Axios for allowing McCammond to continue to write about Biden. Three days later, Ducklo’s threat came to light and the White House announced he had been suspended for a week without pay.

The incident raised questions about the Biden administration’s standards for behavior toward reporters. 

During a virtual swearing-in of appointees on his first day in the White House, Biden told aides that he would fire them on the spot if he ever heard them “treat another colleague with disrespect.” 

Following Ducklo’s suspension, White House press secretary Jen Psaki released a statement on Twitter: “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.”

Outcome 

Ducklo resigns 

The day following his suspension, Ducklo gave up his post. He apologized to Palmeri, describing his menacing language as “abhorrent” in a statement.

“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,” Ducklo said.