Biden campaign alum and deputy White House Press Secretary TJ Ducklo resigned his position after it was reported he threatened and berated a reporter in January. The White House has been criticized for mishandling the situation.
Summary
Biden administration communications official, TJ Ducklo, has resigned following the revelation he berated and threatened a reporter asking questions about his personal life.
- Last year, Ducklo began dating an Axios reporter assigned to “the Biden beat”, who was then reassigned to avoid conflicts of interest.
- Ducklo had been suspended for the off-the-record confrontation shortly after Vanity Fair reported Ducklo’s threats, not when the White House first learned of it.
- AP News notes it was the “first departure” for the Biden White House, which has received light scolding for “not living up to standards” the President set.
- In a statement announcing his resignation, Ducklo expressed regret for his actions, saying he was disgusted by his own behavior.
- Vanity Fair’s reporting of the confrontation highlighted Ducklo’s threats, using the precise language of the threats, which most mainstream outlets refused to do.
- CNN relied on multiple unnamed sources in the White House to give background impressions among Ducklo’s coworkers, saying “the situation was untenable” and that a suspension was not a sufficient punishment.
- The New York Times paired President Biden’s employment pledge around respectful behavior with the fact that Ducklo’s suspension lasted only one day before leaving the administration.
- Fox News rightfully roasted CNN’s Jim Acosta for making the story about his white whale, former President Trump, and highlighted the mockery from his own reporter colleagues.
- Townhall.com reported on the saga, saying Ducklo’s original apology was “anything but” profound and the suspension was a slap on the wrist and highlighting leftist voices in the media criticizing the suspension.
- OANN highlighted Biden’s remarks a month ago of staffers being fired “on the spot” if they were disrespectful, saying the White House was under fire for not living up to that pledge.
- Joe Concha, media critic for The Hill, tweeted that the White House’s efforts to spin the story as “accountability” is “laughable” since they’d known about the confrontation for weeks.
Return to Freespoke 
© Dallas Gerber, 2021
