Joe Biden
WASHINGTON: The White House said Saturday it has accepted the resignation of a staffer who allegedly threatened to ‘destroy’ a reporter who was asking about his personal life.
White House Deputy Spokesman TJ Ducklo was originally suspended for one week without pay, but now the administration of President Joe Biden has accepted his resignation, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
According to Vanity Fair magazine, Ducklo called Politico reporter Tara Palmeri after she began asking questions about his months-old personal relationship with a reporter from Politico rival Axios, Alexi McCammond.
“I will destroy you,” Ducklo allegedly said to Palmeri in a phone call shortly after Biden’s Jan 20 presidential inauguration.
According to Vanity Fair, Ducklo ‘made derogatory and misogynistic comments’ to Palmeri and called her ‘jealous’.
Psaki said the White House accepted Ducklo’s resignation after speaking with him Saturday evening.
“We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions,” Psaki’s statement said.
Ducklo, who was national press secretary for Biden’s 2020 election campaign, issued a statement on Twitter addressing his ‘intolerable actions’.
A day after being sworn in as president, Biden warned his White House staff against mistreating others.
“I’m not joking when I say this: if you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot.” — AFP
The post Biden aide resigns over ‘abhorrent’ comments to reporter appeared first on Borneo Post Online.