Another day, another broken promise.
Three weeks ago Joe Biden promised he would fire anyone working for him ‘on the spot’ if they disrespected others.
“If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise I will fire you on the spot.”
Biden swears in his political appointees and issues a warning:
“If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise I will fire you on the spot.” pic.twitter.com/6ydnUXQf0d
— The Recount (@therecount) January 20, 2021
Joe Biden however is allowing one of his male White House officials to keep his job after he threatened a female reporter.
Biden did not fire his Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo after it was revealed he used vulgar and misogynist language toward the reporter for pursuing a story he wanted kept secret.
Ducklo became angry when he found out that Politico reporter Jennifer Palmieri was pursuing a story about his romantic relationship with an Axios reporter and he threatened to “destroy” her and “ruin her reputation” in a series of phone calls.
Via Vanity Fair (emphasis our own):
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 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 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.”
They don’t care what he did – they ONLY care that they got caught. They’ve known since Jan. about this.
Keep in mind the WH has known about this since January. https://t.co/i5K3onVsnF
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) February 12, 2021
Instead of firing Ducklo like Joe Biden promised, the Deputy Press Secretary was placed on a one-week suspension without pay.
How progressive!
—@PressSec adds that when @tducklo46 returns, he will “no longer be assigned to work with any reporters at Politico.”
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 12, 2021
