Journalist threatened: US government spokesman on leave resigns

Sunday February 14th 2021

Journalist threatened
US government spokesman on leave resigns

At the start of his tenure, US President Biden promises to fire anyone who is disrespectful to others. Now a White House spokesman is said to have threatened a journalist. After a suspension, the employee now draws his own conclusions and gives up his job.

White House spokesman TJ Ducklo, who was temporarily suspended on Friday over alleged threats against a journalist, has resigned. The chief spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden, Jen Psaki, said on Saturday (local time) that the President had accepted the resignation. Ducklo is said to have threatened journalist Tara Palmeri from the politics website "Politico" to "destroy" her.

The Psaki Declaration stated: "We undertake to strive every day in our words and actions to meet the standard set by the President and to treat others with dignity and respect (…)." The resignation was accepted on Saturday evening after a conversation with Ducklo.

Ducklo, who had worked as press spokesman for the Biden election campaign last year, called his behavior "unbearable". He used "language no woman should ever hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she is just trying to do her job," he tweeted. He was "devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my colleagues in the White House and President Biden".

Ducklo is said to have threatened Palmeri with the words "I will destroy you" in the phone call to ruin her reputation. The trigger was apparently Palmeri's research into his relationship with a journalist from the "Politico" competitor "Axios". Palmeri writes for the "Politico" newsletter, Playbook, which reports on Washington’s inner life and is eagerly followed by politicians, their staff, journalists and other politically interested parties.