United States: CFWIJ condemns TJ Ducklo's attempts to threaten and harass journalist Tara Palmeri.

February 13, 2021, Washington-- White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo was suspended on Friday when reports surfaced that he had allegedly harassed and threatened Politico reporter Tara Palmeri. The incident occurred over an article regarding Ducklo that Palmeri was working on.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Ducklo's suspension following a report by Vanity Fair that detailed Ducklo's misconduct with Palmeri. According to the report, Ducklo's behaviour was in reaction to Palmeri's decision to pursue a story on his relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond.

According to Vanity Fair, Ducklo had called Palmeri on January 20, 2021. On the call, he targeted Palmeri with "derogatory and misogynistic comments" and threatened to "destroy" her. On February 8, 2021, Politico informed the White House that the publication had decided to carry the proposed article regardless. That very same day, People Magazine published a glowing story on Ducklo's and McCammond's relationship, which was then retweeted by the official White House Twitter account.

Press Secretary Psaki admitted that she had known about Ducklo's behaviour, however, the suspension was only made public after Vanity Fair published the article. Although Ducklo is on suspension without pay, and Psaki assures that he will not be assigned any Politico reporters following this incident, he is expected to rejoin the staff soon. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns Deputy Press Secretary Ducklo's behaviour. Threatening a journalist over a story she is pursuing is terribly unprofessional, and more importantly against the very spirit of democracy. It is reprehensible that high-ranking officials in Biden's staff can get away with verbally harassing and threatening women journalists without much consequence.