White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo announced Saturday that he is renouncing the “unpleasant, disrespectful and unacceptable” threats he made to a journalist in January. Ducklo’s resignation comes a day after he left put on hold for a week about the incident.
Vanity Fair reported Friday that Ducklo had threatened to “destroy” Politico journalist Tara Palmeri if she continued to pursue a story about her relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond. McCammond had previously covered Biden’s campaign until November, when she told her editors about her relationship with Ducklo and was reassigned to cover Progressives and Vice President Kamala Harris.
CBS News has not been able to verify the call independently, but the conversation three weeks ago sparked a series of moves from the White House communications office, two people familiar with the situation told CBS News. It is unclear why it took more than three weeks in the White House to discipline Ducklo.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Ducklo said he is “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed” President Biden and others in the White House.
“No word can express my grief, my shame and my disgust at my behavior,” Ducklo said in a statement. “I used language that no woman should ever hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job. It was boring, disrespectful and unacceptable language.”
“I knew this was terrible. I know I can’t get it back. But I also know I can learn from it and do it better,” Ducklo continued. “This incident does not represent who I am as a person and I will be determined to regain the trust of everyone I have let down because of my intolerable actions.”
This is the first public statement Ducklo has made in this regard.
In a statement, press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed her resignation on Saturday, saying she held a discussion with Ducklo on Saturday evening. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain backed the conversation, he added.
“We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, civility and value for others through our words and our actions,” he said. Psaki.
A White House official told CBS News that Biden is aware of the situation and supports Ducklo’s decision to resign.
Ducklo and McCammond’s relationship first came to light earlier this week in a People Magazine report, weeks after Jan. 20, when Palmeri had turned to McCammond for comment. A male colleague contacted Ducklo.
That day, at some point, Ducklo angrily called Palmeri, according to Vanity Fair, saying he would destroy her reputation and accuse her of writing the story out of jealousy because another man “wanted to do” McCammond, and not her.
McCammond and Palmeri had never interacted before the story attempt, which Palmeri had been assigned to cover and did not pursue independently, Vanity Fair reported.
Ducklo had been on Mr.’s team. Biden since his most recent campaign for the White House. In December 2019, Ducklo announced he had been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer.
Arden Farhi and Bo Erickson contributed to the communication.