Joe Biden Administration Faces Scrutiny For Reportedly Covering Up Aide’s Sexual Harassment
President Joe Biden’s administration is facing scrutiny for allegedly covering up a sexual harassment scandal involving White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo and Politico writer Tara Palmeri.
As reported by Vanity Fair, Ducklo allegedly threatened to “destroy” Palmeri for writing a story on his romantic relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond. He also reportedly attempted to intimidate the writer by making misogynistic and derogatory comments and suggested her story was due to her jealousy over an unidentified man who “wanted to f*ck” McCammond instead of her.
According to the publication, a Politico editor reached out to Biden’s administration on January 21 to discuss the threats and spoke to various senior-level officials, including White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn, and White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield. As The Inquisitr reported, Anita Dunn was notably slammed by political commentator Katie Halper for her alleged role in convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein’s public relations team.
Needless to say, the reported cover-up of Ducklo’s harassment has caused a backlash.
“To be clear, @PressSec has known her deputy sexually harassed a female reporter for 4 weeks. We are only finding out about it publicly today,” conservative commentator Jack Posobiec tweeted.
“Remember, Psaki is reportedly involved in this and helped try to cover up Ducklo’s behavior,” read a tweet from Daily Caller Senior Congressional Correspondent Henry Rodgers.
Elsewhere on Twitter, journalist Benny Johnson slammed Psaki’s acknowledgment of Ducklo’s alleged apology to Palmeri.
“Press Sec is white knighting here for a sexual harasser misogynist on her staff @tducklo46. @PressSec also tried to cover up the scandal.”
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.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 12, 2021
Psaki revealed on Friday that Ducklo was suspended for one week without pay for his actions. She also claimed he will no longer work with Politico reporters upon his return to work, which some at the outlet suggested was tantamount to punishing them.
According to the New York Post, Psaki “waffled” when she was pressed on the issue on Friday. The publication also noted that she dodged a question about Biden’s previous claim that he would fire staff immediately if they were found to be disrespectful to others.
“If you’re ever working with me, and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot,” he said on Inauguration Day.
Psaki claimed she did not discuss Ducklo’s harassment or punishment with Biden.
According to a tweet from Posobiec, a source told him that Biden has been informed of the Ducklo scandal and Psaki’s attempt to cover it up.