Journalist leaves Biden beat due to relationship with White House aide

A reporter has opened up about her decision to choose her romantic relationship with a deputy press secretary in President Joe Biden’s administration, who is battling cancer, over a role covering the new president.

Alexi McCammond, 27, is an NBC/MSNBC contributor and reporter for Axios, who covered Mr Biden’s presidential campaign in 2019 and 2020.

During her work, McCammond met TJ Ducklo, 32, Mr Biden’s press secretary at the time, who has since taken on a role as deputy press secretary in the new administration. 

While the pair says their relationship was platonic at first, it eventually grew romantic, with the couple officially beginning to date in November.

According to McCammond, Ducklo’s stage four cancer diagnosis in 2019 showed her that her feelings toward him had changed, with the pair finally coming together during the "downtime" after the presidential election.

"After the election, when we both had some downtime, it was clear that our years-long friendship had the potential for something else. When TJ was diagnosed … I had a sense then how much he meant to me and I'm just grateful that I get to be there for him now every step of the way as his partner," McCammond told People. 

That same month, they both realised they would need to disclose the nature of their relationship to their bosses. 

For McCammond, this meant telling her editors at Axios, at which point she “asked to be taken off of the Biden beat,” a spokesperson for the outlet told People.

According to the outlet, the political reporter was assigned instead to covering “progressive lawmakers in Congress and progressives across the US as well as Vice President Kamala Harris”.

Of her decision to switch beats away from her role covering the new administration, McCammond told People it was an easy choice and that she "didn't think twice" about it.

"When my personal life had the potential to interfere with my work, I didn't think twice about sharing my happiness in November with Axios that I'd found someone in TJ who shows up for me in a way I'd only hoped for," she said.

Ducklo also had to inform his boss, which he did the same month. And while the couple is still working in similar spheres, the Biden aide said they keep their relationship “totally separate”.

“I don't know what she's working on and she doesn't know what I'm working on," he told People, adding that it means “a lot of calls in hallways, in bathrooms and while one of us is walking her dog”.

Ducklo, who says he has his cancer "under control," also agrees that it was the greatest decision either of them could have made, calling their relationship the “best thing that has ever happened in my personal life”.

And while they both acknowledged that they may face criticism over their relationship, McCammond said they weren't going to "let bullies get in the way of our own happiness".

On social media, the story has been met with overwhelmingly positive responses, with many sharing their well-wishes for the couple.

"This is the story we all needed after all the hate of the past couple of years. @TDucklo @alexi so happy to read your love story. Wishing you both nothing but the best and praying for your health," one person wrote.

Another tweeted: "This is so lovely. Straight out of a hit rom-com. I hope they’re so, so happy together!"