According to a report by Politico, the Joe Biden campaign is having “discussions” with disgraced ex-White House press aide T.J. Ducklo, who was “forced out of the administration less than a month after Biden took office in 2021 when he threatened to ‘destroy’ a reporter who asked about his relationship with another journalist,” according to the Daily Mail.
Vanity Fair reported at the time regarding the altercation:
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 the 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 the 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.” Ducklo also accused Palmeri of being “jealous” of his relationship with McCammond. (Palmeri had no prior relationship or communication with McCammond before calling her to report on the Playbook item, which was a story that she was assigned and had not independently pursued.)
“There have been discussions with former White House press aide T.J. Ducklo to return to Biden world in an official capacity,” reported Politico.
“When you screw up — and he did — you apologize and do better moving forward. He has done that,” former White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the publication.
“None of us want to be judged entirely by our worst days. He is thought of as one of the most talented press people out there who leads with his heart and has been in the foxhole from the beginning of the 2020 campaign and that means something in Biden world. As it should,” Psaki added.
After Ducklo’s resignation from the White House, he took a job working as chief communications officer for the city of Nashville and adviser to its mayor, John Cooper.
Now, Ducklo appears ready for a second act in Biden’s team, which still raises questions on how he will be able to work with reporters, specifically female journalists.