A day after he was suspended without pay for, allegedly, threatening to "destroy" a reporter working on a story about his relationship with another reporter, White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has quit his post, the Associated Press and other news reported on Sunday.
Press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the White House accepted Ducklo's resignation on Saturday evening.
"I'm devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden, and after a discussion with White House communications leadership tonight, I resigned my position and will not be returning from administrative leave," the Daily Mail quoted Ducklo as saying in a statement.
In a tweet, Ducklo said the language he used was "abhorrent, disrespectful and unacceptable." "I know it was terrible. I know I can't take it back. But I also know that I can learn from it and do better," according to Axios.
Vanity Fair alleged on Friday that Ducklo had made threats - including saying "I will destroy you" - to a Politico journalist who was reporting on the official's recently disclosed relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond.
Psaki said Ducklo had apologized to the Politico reporter, Tara Palmeri. McCammond, Ducklo and Palmeri did not immediately respond to emails request for comment.
"No journalist at Politico - or any other publication or network - should ever be subjected to such unfounded personal attacks while doing their job," Politico editor-in-chief Matt Kaminski and editor Carrie Budoff Brown said in remarks quoted by The Guardian.
U.S. President Joe Biden set a high standard for his staff as he swore them in on his first day in office. "If you're ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect... I promise you I will fire you right on the spot."
Psaki said Ducklo's conduct was "completely unacceptable. "We've had conversations with him. ... This will never happen again."
