Tyler Joseph "TJ" Ducklo (born September 22, 1988) is an American political advisor. Ducklo previously served under former president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

as a special assistant to the president and White House Deputy Press Secretary in 2021; as national press secretary for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign; and as senior advisor on the subsequent 2024 presidential campaign.

Early life and education

Ducklo was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and is the son of Nashville optometrist Tommy Ducklo. He was educated at the

University School of Nashville University School of Nashville is an independent, coeducational, day school located in Nashville, Tennessee. History Referred to colloquially as USN, the school was founded in 1888 by the Peabody Board of Trustees. The school was first founded ...

and earned a bachelor of arts degree in

political communication Political communication is the study of political messaging that is communicated, usually to the public e.g. political campaigns, speeches and political advertising, often concerning the mass media. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws f ...

from

George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, a school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in journalism and political and internati ...

in 2011.

Career

Ducklo previously worked as a staff assistant for

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is a ...

and

Mary Matalin Mary Joe Matalin (born August 19, 1953) is an American political consultant well known for her work with the Republican Party. She served under President Ronald Reagan, was campaign director for George H. W. Bush, an assistant to President Geo ...

. He volunteered for

Karl Dean Karl Foster Dean (born September 20, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 6th Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill P ...

's 2007

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

mayoral campaign and interned in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 2008. Ducklo also worked on

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

's bid to host the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

and has held senior media relations posts at

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...

, and the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

. In addition, Ducklo was a public relations advisor for

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's 2016 documentary '' The Circus''. Ducklo joined the Biden campaign in April 2019, his first significant role on a political campaign. Before joining the Biden campaign, Ducklo worked as senior communications director for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

Deputy Press Secretary

On January 15, 2021, it was announced that Ducklo would serve as a

White House deputy press secretary The White House Office of the Press Secretary, or the Press Office, is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to three principal groups: the president, the White House staff, and the media. The office is headed by the White House ...

in the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

. In February 2021, ''People'' reported that Ducklo was in a romantic relationship with

Alexi McCammond Alexi Jo McCammond (born 1993) is an American political journalist. She has served as a reporter for the political website Axios and an opinions editor for The Washington Post. She has also been an NBC and MSNBC contributor and a contributor for ...

, who covered the Biden campaign and administration for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

as a contributor and as a reporter for

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

in 2019 and 2020. As a result, McCammond was reassigned to covering

Vice President Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

and progressive lawmakers in Congress. After the profile was released, ''Vanity Fair'' reported that Ducklo threatened ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'' reporter Tara Palmeri, telling her he would "destroy her" if she published a story about his relationship with McCammond. He had also reportedly made "derogatory and misogynistic comments" toward Palmeri during a phone call and accused her of being "jealous" of his relationship with McCammond. On February 12, Ducklo was suspended without pay for one week and apologized. He resigned from his White House position the next day. Palmeri later wrote on ''Puck'' that she and Ducklo made amends and she said that, "there are some people who deserve to be canceled, but T.J. Ducklo is not one of them."

Public relations

In June 2021, Ducklo joined Risa Heller Communications, a boutique

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

firm in New York, as a senior vice president. His clients have included

Jeff Zucker Jeffrey Adam Zucker (born April 9, 1965) is an American businessman and media executive. Zucker was the president of CNN Worldwide from 2013 to 2022. He oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN, and CNN Digital. He was previously CEO of NBCUniver ...

and

Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (née Brown; ; born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court nomination, was nominated ...

Nashville politics

In April 2022, Ducklo became chief communications officer and a senior advisor to John Cooper, the mayor of

. Ducklo oversaw "the administration's communications team and advised Cooper on political and strategic decisions," ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

'' reported. In June 2023, Ducklo left the Mayor's office to become a senior advisor on President Biden's re-election campaign.

2024 presidential campaign

Ducklo joined Biden's 2024 campaign and stayed after it turned into the Kamala Harris campaign, later leaving for a position as chief strategist at a

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

called Democracy Defenders.

Personal life

In December 2019, Ducklo announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he had been diagnosed with stage-four

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. Ducklo entered remission in 2020 or 2021. As of February 2021, Ducklo continued to receive treatment.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ducklo, TJ 1988 births American public relations people Biden administration personnel George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs alumni Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign Living people NBC employees People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election People associated with the 2024 United States presidential election People from Nashville, Tennessee Political staffers Washington, D.C., Democrats University School of Nashville alumni