After multiple delays totaling over an hour, Friday’s White House press briefing was a humdinger, coming just hours after Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo was given a slap on the wrist from Jen Psaki in the form of a one-week suspension for reportedly hurling sexist attacks at Politico’s Tara Palmeri for looking into on his relationship with Axios’s Alexi McCammond.
And when pressed by four different reporters on the allegations made in Vanity Fair, Psaki spun the matter as one that’s a shut case which won’t happen again and essentially admitted the only reason Ducklo was suspended was because the White House was caught covering it up.
Unsurprisingly, the guy who was a jerk to FNC’s Bret Baier in September 2020 when he asked basic questions was a jerk.
It took 23 questions for the White House press corps to raise the issue of Ducklo and, while the questions were pointed and strong, there were the only six Ducklo-related questions out of 67 total questions during the briefing (as per a NewsBusters count).
For the uninitiated, here were the key lines from the Vanity Fair piece (click “expand”):
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.
While CNN’s Kaitlan Collins broke the ice in the briefing room, it was the last question (courtesy of CBS’s Weijia Jiang) that was the most damning.
Jiang pointed out Psaki and her colleagues seemed to have been well aware of Ducklo’s attacks on Palmeri “for weeks,” so this triggers the million dollar question: “[W]hy wasn’t TJ suspended until after the article dropped? He was here up until last night.”
With a penchant for refusing to even answer the most basic questions, Psaki conceded they knew, but went no further and thus admitted they only gave him detention because they got caught:
You are right. He — there were conversations that occurred with the reporter as well as editors at Politico immediately after the conversation. That was how we engaged, in a private manner. And — you know, that was — that was what we felt was appropriate at the time.
Going back to the beginning, Collins led off by wondering “whose idea” it was to only suspend Ducklo “instead of a potential resignation or firing” and then an equally important question about whether he should be allowed to work “in a public-facing, press relations role dealing with female reporters when he made such sexist comments.”
Psaki reread portions of her public statement announcing Ducklo’s suspension and added she took this “very seriously” because she’s “a woman” who’s been “working in press and communications for nearly 20 years....and I think many of you know me and have worked with me closely.”
She said what Ducklo did was not acceptable, but she explained away his smears because “it was not an issue related to the White House or a White House policy or anything along those lines” and the suspension was unprecedented.
Collins reupped her second question, but Psaki again refused to take that into consideration, emphasizing Ducklo’s behavior “is not going to be tolerated here at the White House” (even though it was and has been tolerated) and that Politico has been contacted by other members of the press office to express their apologies.
Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove interjected with a point many on Twitter raised, which were President Biden’s comments on Inauguration Day to staff about his expectations for decorum and anyone who didn’t meet them would be fired “on the spot.”
Again, Psaki maintained that Ducklo expressing that he was sorry in writing was sufficient (click “expand”):
WINGROVE: [N]ot to belabor the point, but the president on Inauguration Day spoke to people that he was, I guess, swearing in, new staff, and he said, I promise I will fire you on the spot — on the spot, no ifs, ands, or buts, if they speak down to or disrespect their colleagues. Now, it’s not a colleague being questioned here, isn’t this short of well short of what he pledged on Inauguration Day?
PSAKI: As I’ve said, Josh, it does not meet our standards, it doesn’t meet our standard. It doesn’t meet the President's standard. And it — and it was important we took a step to make that clear. And that included not just an apology directly from him, and apologies from us at the highest level, but a step to suspend him for one week without pay. And that, in our view, was a — was an important step to send a message that we don’t find it acceptable.
White House Correspondents Association president Zeke Miller of the AP then wondered whether Biden was “involved in this discussion” about how to address Ducklo’s behavior, but Psaki revealed that she hasn’t even discussed it with him.
And after Jiang’s question, both the press corps and Psaki moved on and it was never brought up again.
So, great work, firefighters. You get a C for trying, but if this were a press aide in the Trump administration, it’d be a safe bet that questions would have started immediately and continued throughout the briefing for Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or Kayleigh McEnany.
To see the relevant briefing transcript from February 12, click “expand.”
White House Press Briefing
February 12, 2021
2:10 p.m. EasternKAITLAN COLLINS: One more question. A deputy of yours has been suspended for a week without pay for comments he made to a female reporter, bullying her after she reached out for request for comment on a story. Whose idea was the week suspension instead of a potential resignation or firing? And how can you keep this person in a public-facing, press relations role dealing with female reporters when he made such sexist comments to this female reporter reaching out for a request for comment?
JEN PSAKI: Well, let me first say, obviously, Kaitlan, 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 — almost 20 years. And I think many of you know me and have worked with me closely and many of you know many people in this building, including the President, who take these allegations quick seriously. TJ Ducklo, who is the deputy who you’re asking about, has apologized, apologized to the reporter quite shortly after the comments were made. He had a heated conversation about a story related to his personal life. I am not saying that is acceptable, but I just want to be clear that it was not an issue related to the White House or a White House policy or anything along those lines. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President, nor is it the standard of behavior bet by me, and I am his direct supervisor. In addition to his initial apology, he sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret. The ask — he has been placed, as you noted, on a one-week suspension without pay. That is a significant step. I am not aware of the history of that step being taken. You all can check me on that. And in addition, when he returns, he will no longer be assigned to work with reporters at Politico. I don’t — we don’t want — no one wants anyone to feel uncomfortable. To be put in an uncomfortable position and that’s not behavior that we will tolerate. So, those were the steps taken and we felt it was a serious punishment.
COLLINS: But he’ll still be working with female reporters and it wasn’t just a hostile conversation. I think we’ve all probably had plenty of those and vice versa. Those happen. But, you know, the language he is alleged to have used, according to this report, is arguably — or even not arguably — sexist. So, what are you doing to deal with that?
PSAKI: It’s completely unacceptable. He knows that. We have had conversations with him about that. That is why we have also contacted — not long before today, but immediately following their conversation, my colleague Kate Beddingfield reached out to an editor at Playbook to convey our apology. We’ve reached out at every level there to convey our apology. And been clear this will never happen again. And it is not going to be tolerated here at the White House.
JOSH WINGROVE: Jen, sorry, can I just follow up on this? Just, not —
PSAKI: Go. Go ahead, Josh. It’s okay.
WINGROVE: — not to belabor the point, but the president on Inauguration Day spoke to people that he was, I guess, swearing in, new staff, and he said, I promise I will fire you on the spot — on the spot, no ifs, ands, or buts, if they speak down to or disrespect their colleagues. Now, it’s not a colleague being questioned here, isn’t this short of well short of what he pledged on Inauguration Day?
PSAKI: As I’ve said, Josh, it does not meet our standards, it doesn’t meet our standard. It doesn’t meet the President's standard. And it — and it was important we took a step to make that clear. And that included not just an apology directly from him, and apologies from us at the highest level, but a step to suspend him for one week without pay. And that, in our view, was a — was an important step to send a message that we don’t find it acceptable.
WEIJIA JIANG: Jen, follow up on that —
MILLER: But Jen, was the President involved in this discussion at all? Was this — was he —
PSAKI: No, I have not discussed it with the President. It was a decision I made and with approval of the chief of staff.
JIANG: Jen, if you knew about this conversation for weeks, why wasn’t TJ suspended until after the article dropped? He was here up until last night.
PSAKI: You are right. He — there were conversations that occurred with the reporter as well as editors at Politico immediately after the conversation. That was how we engaged, in a private manner. And — you know, that was — that was what we felt was appropriate at the time.
