Former Joe Biden 2020 campaign aide TJ Ducklo will reportedly return to help the president with his upcoming 2024 campaign despite having resigned from his White House role in 2021 for allegedly threatening a female reporter.
As Breitbart News reported in 2021, then-deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo resigned from the White House after he allegedly threatened Politico author Tara Palmeri for revealing his relationship with Axios’s Alexi McCammond. Palmeri, coauthor of Politico’s Playbook, allegedly contacted McCammond for comment and then received a message from Ducklo trying to intimidate her.
“I will destroy you,” sources claimed Ducklo said if Palmeri published the story. He also made several sexist and misogynist comments toward the reporter. As Vanity Fair noted at the time:
During the off-the-record call, Ducklo made derogatory and misogynistic comments, accusing Palmeri of only reporting on his relationship—which, due to the ethics questions that factor into the relationship between a journalist and White House official, falls under the purview of her reporting beat—because she was “jealous” that an unidentified man in the past had “wanted to fuck” McCammond “and not you.” Ducklo also accused Palmeri of being “jealous” of his relationship with McCammond.
According to Bloomberg, Ducklo is “likely to work in a strategic communications role on the campaign and not interact directly with reporters.”
“Several aides were buzzing about Ducklo re-joining Biden world — though he has the support of some key advisers and showed up at last year’s July 4 barbecue on the White House grounds,” noted Bloomberg.
At the time of his departure, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Ducklo apologized to Palmeri and he was subsequently suspended.
“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,” Psaki tweeted from the press secretary Twitter page. “In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret.”
“With the approval of the White House Chief of Staff, he has been placed on a one-week suspension without pay,” she added. “In addition, when he returns, he will no longer be assigned to work with any reporters at Politico.”
Journalists were incensed at the time that Ducklo was not specifically fired for his actions.
Imagine the (justifiable) reaction if someone working at the Trump White House had done this https://t.co/fq0JdBodvv
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 12, 2021
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or VIMEO On Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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