An official on President Joe Biden's staff was suspended today after allegedly threatening to "destroy" a reporter who was asking about his personal life.
White House Deputy Spokesman TJ Ducklo was suspended for one week without pay, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
According to Vanity Fair magazine, Mr Ducklo called up Politico reporter Tara Palmeri after she began asking questions about his months-old personal relationship with Alexi McCammond, a reporter from rival website Axios.
"I will destroy you," Mr Ducklo allegedly said to Ms Palmeri in a phone call shortly after the 20 January inauguration of Joe Biden as president.
According to Vanity Fair, Mr Ducklo "made derogatory and misogynistic comments" to Ms Palmeri and called her "jealous".
"TJ Ducklo has apologised to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life," Ms Psaki said in a tweeted statement.
"He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President," she said.
In addition to being suspended for one week, she said Mr Ducklo will no longer work with any reporters at Politico in his duties at the White House.
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.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 12, 2021
Mr Ducklo was national press secretary for Joe Biden's 2020 election campaign.
Politico Playbook, the Washington politics tips and gossip newsletter that Ms Palmeri reports for, wrote this week that Ms McCammond made it public in November that she was dating Mr Ducklo.
A day after being sworn in as president, Joe 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," he said.
