White House aide resigns after suspension for sexist comments to reporter

White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo has resigned following his one-week suspension over sexist comments to a reporter writing a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.

“We accepted the resignation of TJ Ducklo after a discussion with him this evening,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Saturday night. “This conversation occurred with the support of the White House Chief of Staff. We are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the president in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions.”

Vanity Fair revealed that Mr Ducklo told Politico reporter Tara Palmeri he would “destroy” her after learning of her reporting.

He reportedly made misogynistic comments about Ms Palmeri and claimed she was “jealous” about his relationship with Alexi McCammond, an Axios reporter pulled from reporting on Joe Biden’s campaign and administration in November after disclosing her relationship.

“We felt it was a serious punishment,” Ms Psaki said during a press conference on Friday following his initial suspension.

Following his inauguration, the president told his incoming staff that his administration intends to lead with the “core American values” of “humility and trust.”

“I am not joking when I say this,” he said on 20 January. “If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect … talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot ... No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“It doesn’t meet our standard, it doesn’t meet the president’s standard,” Ms Psaki said on Friday. “It was important that we took a step to make that clear, but also a step to suspend him for one week without pay. That, in our view, was an important step in our message that we don’t find it acceptable.”

The president was not involved in the decision making process for suspending the press secretary, according to Ms Psaki. The decision was made by herself, Mr Ducklo’s direct superior, who consulted with chief of staff Ron Klain, she said.