Why Was Biden's Aide TJ Ducklo Suspended?

TJ Ducklo: The White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the suspension of TJ Ducklo, US President's press aide over allegations made by a Politico reporter.

Psaki tweeted on Saturday that Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay, she added that TJ Ducklo has apologised to the Politico reporter for mistreating her. She wrote, "He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behaviour set out by the president.”She added that Ducklo will never work with a Politico reporter again.

What happened between TJ Ducklo and Politico reporter?

Tara Palmeri, a journalist with Politico,  questioned TJ Ducklo about his romantic relationship with another Politico reporter Alexi McCammond. He in a way to avoid questions on his personal life threatened Palmeri that he will "destroy her" if she ever tries to disclose his relationship with McCammond. A Vanity Fair report disclosed the conversation between Ducklo and Palmeri and caused much chaos about the White House aide disrespecting a journalist like that. McCammond had declared her relationship with Ducklo in November last year and was removed from White House beat.

Matt Kaminski, politico editor-in-chief and editor Carrie Budoff Brown said in a statement, “No journalist at Politico – or any other publication or network – should ever be subjected to such unfounded personal attacks while doing their job.”

“Politico reporters and editors are committed to forging a professional and transparent relationship with public office holders and their staff and expect the same in return," they added.

Objections on the week-long suspension of TJ Ducklo

Many have raised concerns about the nature of punishment. The week-long suspension of Ducklo is in contrast with Joe Biden's earlier statement in which he said that if any White House staff disrespects another colleague, he will fire them on the spot. The press secretary during the press briefing said that US President Joe Biden was not involved in the suspension of Ducklo and that the White House has taken the decision.

On the other hand, Politico reporters disagreed with Psaki's announcement about Ducklo never working with any Politico reporter again. One reporter was reported saying that they feel Psaki is punishing the reporters more than Ducklo as they will forever lose access to a high-ranking White House press official.