Biden’s deputy press secretary, T.J. Ducklo has resigned amid threats made when a reporter who asked him questions.

White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo listens as press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, in Washington. Patrick Semansky | AP

T.J.D Ducklo was Joe Biden’s chief spokesman during his campaign.  Now, after less than one month in office, he has shown his true colors.  After being put on leave for seven days following a contentious set of events with a reporter in January, T.J. Ducklo has resigned.

An apology is normally enough for progressive-on-progressive hate:

But, not this time.  The tribal progressive journalist class often protects its own and won’t abide insult against its female reporters by men.  So, they weren’t going to simply let the story die as they would were it conservative non-journalist being insulted in such a way.  Instead, Politico and Vanity Fair wrote stories on it.

So, what happened?

During the set of events, Ducklo refused to answer questions regarding the ethical and legal appropriateness of the Whitehouse spokesman dating a reporter, Alexi McCammond.  Instead, Ducklo accused the reporter asking the questions, Tara Palmeri, of being jealous of him because he had a girlfriend and because an ‘unidentified man’ had ‘wanted to fuck’ this girlfriend, rather than the female reporter.  Because of this, he threatened to “ruin” the reporter and “destroy” her.

These people are all lovely, aren’t they?  And so mature.

Vanity Fair reports:

“The confrontation began on Inauguration Day, January 20, after Palmeri, a coauthor of Politico’s Playbook, contacted McCammond for comment while one of her male colleagues left a message for Ducklo, according to the sources. Ducklo subsequently called a Playbook editor to object to the story, but was told to call the Playbook reporters with his concerns. But instead of calling the male reporter who initially contacted him, Ducklo tried to intimidate Palmeri by phone in an effort to kill the story. “I will destroy you,” Ducklo told her, according to the sources, adding that he would ruin her reputation if she published it.

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. (Palmeri had no prior relationship or communication with McCammond before calling her to report on the Playbook item, which was a story that she was assigned and had not independently pursued.) 

The following day, an editor at Politico reached out to the White House about Ducklo’s threats, spurring multiple conversations between the news outlet and senior-level officials on January 21, including White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, and Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn. In one of those calls, senior White House officials acknowledged that Ducklo’s handling of the call with Palmeri was inappropriate and said he would send a note to her apologizing for the comments. In another conversation, the same White House officials took aim at Palmeri by accusing her of breaking an off-the-record agreement with Ducklo and pressing Politico as to why the contents of the call had been revealed. Palmeri had only informed her editors of the contents of the call, which she had transcribed into her notes as it was happening, after they asked her about it.”

Initially, Biden had merely put Ducklo on a one-week suspension.  This flew in the face of his empty promise to unify and be respectful:

““I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts,” Biden said last month.”

But, because the journalists weren’t going to let the story go, Ducklo has been forced to resign:

Ducklo Tweeted his apology amid the resignation on Saturday:

“No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job. It was language that was abhorrent, disrespectful and unacceptable,” he wrote.

“I am devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden, and after a discussion with White House communications leadership tonight, I resident my position and will not be returning from administrative leave.”

“I know this was terrible. I know I can’t take it back,” he continued. “But I also know I can learn from it and do better. This incident is not representative of who I am as a person, and I will be determined to earn back the trust of everyone I have let down because of my intolerable actions.””

This man was the chief spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign.  Do you really think this behavior is just now being noticed?

Perhaps they used him to intimidate on the campaign trail like a junkyard dog, and then they fired him out of expedience once they had stolen the prize.

If I were a totalitarian usurper non-existent morals or values, that is might be what I would do.

What do you think?

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