White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo suspended for a week after threatening reporter over story about him



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Ducklo had threatened Politico’s Tara Palmeri about the story, swearing he would “destroy” her if she published it, according to Vanity Fair. Ducklo also made misogynistic comments to Palmeri, Vanity Fair said. The magazine reported that Ducklo made reference to Palmeri’s personal life, accusing him at one point of being “jealous” of his relationship with Alexi McCammond. A person familiar with the matter has confirmed to CNN the details of Ducklo’s conversation with Palmeri.

Psaki said in a statement that Ducklo apologized to Palmeri for what Psaki described as “a heated conversation about his personal life.”

“He is the first to admit that this is not the standard of behavior set by the president,” Psaki said.

Psaki added that when Ducklo returns from suspension, “he will no longer be assigned to work with reporters at Politico.”

Palmeri reported on Tuesday that Ducklo had been romantically involved with McCammond, an Axios reporter. Axios told Politico that McCammond “revealed his relationship” with Ducklo in November and was “estranged from Biden”. But Palmeri pointed out that McCammond’s pace includes the cover of Vice President Kamala Harris and that she commented praisingly on Biden after his inauguration.

Ducklo did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

A Politico spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Psaki’s statement. Palmeri declined to comment.

Two Politico staff members told CNN that reporters inside the outlet were outraged by Psaki’s response to the situation.

“It feels like she is punishing us more than him,” said one of the staff, noting that her solution is for Politico reporters to lose access to one of the department’s top officials. communications department of the White House.

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