White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is being pressed on whether President Joe Biden’s promise to fire anyone for disrespect still stands amid White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo’s resignation.
“I think the president leads by example and I try to do the same,” Psaki said during her press briefing on Tuesday.
She added, “On Saturday, when we announced that TJ Ducklo had resigned his position, something we all agreed was the right path forward, I made clear that every day we’re going to try to meet the standard set out by the president in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with the value for others through our words and our actions.”
Psaki told reporters Ducklo is no longer employed and she thinks “that speaks for itself.”
Watch part of her briefing below:
"He's no longer employed here, and I think that speaks for itself," Psaki says about departure of White House aide TJ Ducklo for threats to female reporter. Ducklo received a week's suspension and later resigned, despite Biden pledge to fire anyone "on the spot" for disrespect pic.twitter.com/GUOPha2Dgw
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 16, 2021
Ducklo’s resignation came after he reportedly told Politico’s Tara Palmeri he would “destroy” her if she chose to run a story about one of his personal relationships, as IJR reported.
The White House announced Ducklo’s suspension after Vanity Fair published the report.
“With the approval of the White House Chief of Staff, he has been placed on a one-week suspension without pay. In addition, when he returns, he will no longer be assigned to work with any reporters at Politico,” Psaki tweeted on Friday.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Psaki during her Friday press briefing why he was only given a one-week suspension.
“I take this very seriously. I am a woman obviously, but I’ve been in this town working in press and communications for nearly 20 years… many of you know many people in this building, including the president who take these allegations quite seriously,” Psaki said.
She announced Ducklo’s resignation on Saturday, as IJR reported. He wrote on Twitter that “no words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior.”
