White House defends not firing deputy press secretary over sexist comments to reporter

The White House has defended not firing its deputy press secretary after he made sexist comments to a reporter who was working on a story.

TJ Ducklo was suspended for one week without pay after a Vanity Fair report revealed he threatened and made sexist comments to Politico reporter Tara Palmeri – who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another reporter.

“We felt it was a serious punishment,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, during a press briefing on Friday.

In the interaction, Mr Ducklo said he would “destroy her” if she published a story. He went on to make misogynistic comments about Ms Palmeri and claim she was “jealous” about his relationship with Alexi McCammond – who was pulled by Axios from the Biden beat in November after disclosing her relationship.

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Kamala Harris to Headline Fundraiser Hosted by Hollywood Producer Who Derided Women as ‘Twats’ — and Called Harris ‘Tiresome’

Kamala Harris is headlining a Thursday afternoon fundraiser cohosted by a Hollywood producer who has disparaged Republican women as “twats” and argued that Harris herself was “tiresome” and needed to “grow a pair.”

Doug Prochilo, who gave at least $100,000 to cohost the Biden campaign’s virtual fundraiser, routinely calls female Republicans “twats.” He described former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as an “amoral, demented twat,” current press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as “an insane twat,” and Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wy.) as a “lying, ignorant twat.” In 2018, he referred to Maine Sen. Susan Collins and two of her Republican colleagues as “uptight old twats.”

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