T.J. Ducklo, the White House deputy press secretary who threatened to “destroy” a female journalist seeking comment for a story about his ethically problematic relationship with an Axios reporter, will keep his job despite President Joe Biden’s warning that staff members who treat others with “disrespect” would be fired “on the spot.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Ducklo will receive a one-week suspension without pay after his “heated conversation” with Politico reporter Tara Palmeri, which occurred on Jan. 20, was made public for the first time in a Vanity Fair article published Friday.
Ducklo reportedly made derogatory and misogynistic comments toward Palmeri after she reached out to his girlfriend, Axios reporter Alexi McCammond, for comment on a story about the couple’s relationship. Ducklo did not, for whatever reason, lash out at Palmeri’s male colleague who had reached out to him for comment.
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For example, Ducklo was the senior communications director for NBC News between 2018 and 2019, when the network was struggling to contain the fallout from the numerous sexual assault allegations leveled against disgraced daytime host Matt Lauer. Journalist Ronan Farrow has accused senior NBC News executives of turning a blind eye to Lauer’s predatory behavior and of actively thwarting his efforts to report on disgraced Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein’s history of misconduct.
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Ducklo also worked as communications director for Bloomberg Politics, an organization whose founder, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, has faced numerous lawsuits from women alleging discrimination and sexual harassment. He went on to do public relations work for The Circus, the Showtime political reality series starring Mark Halperin, the former MSNBC (and Bloomberg) journalist who was ousted from public life amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. – READ MORE
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