Joe Biden's vice spokesman TJ Ducklo resigns after suspension

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TJ Ducklo

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White House spokesman TJ Ducklo, who was temporarily suspended on Friday over alleged threats against a journalist, has resigned.

US President Joe Biden's chief spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Saturday that the president had accepted the resignation.

Ducklo is said to have threatened journalist Tara Palmeri from the politics website »Politico« to »destroy« her.

The Psaki declaration stated: "We undertake to strive every day in our words and actions to meet the standard set by the President and to treat others with dignity and respect (...)." was accepted on Saturday evening after talking to Ducklo.

Ducklo, who had worked as press spokesman for the Biden election campaign team last year, called his behavior on the online service Twitter "unbearable".

He said he used "language no woman should ever hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she is just trying to do her job," he wrote.

He was "devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my colleagues in the White House and President Biden":

Ducklo is said to have threatened Palmeri with the words "I will destroy you" on the phone that he would ruin her reputation.

Ducklo is also said to have made derogatory and misogynistic comments and used vulgar expressions.

The trigger was apparently Palmeri's research into his relationship with a journalist from the »Politico« competitor »Axios«.

Palmeri writes for the »Politico« newsletter, Playbook, which reports on the political inner life of Washington and is eagerly followed by politicians, their employees, journalists and other politically interested parties.

One of the first official acts of the new US president was a speech to his team.

Joe Biden swore hundreds of newly sworn government employees to a new etiquette in the White House: "Hello team, and I'm serious: the only thing I expect with absolute certainty is honesty and decency."

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