Former Editor for Teen Vogue who resigned even before joining the duty

Alexi McCammond | Biography

McCammond's boyfriend, TJ Ducklo is a former White House deputy press secretary

• By Ojasbi
• Original : September 16, 2021

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Alexi McCammond is a political reporter at Axios

Who is Alexi McCammond?

Alexi McCammond is a political reporter for the news site Axios. She was announced the Editor-in-chief for Teen Vogue in 2021 but had to resign due to the re-emergence of racist tweets she made years ago.

Early Life and Education

McCammond was born in Chicago in 1994. She completed her high school studies at Guilford High School in Rockford. Following that, she entered the University of Chicago on a full four-year QuestBridge scholarship in 2011. 

Initially, she aspired to be a doctor. But, coming from a lower-middle-class household, McCammond gulped in substantial pressure to succeed and make the best utilization of the opportunity to attend a college to which her parents never had access. Also, it took her no time to realize that medicine was not the correct choice for her. Instead, she had a penchant for writing and keeping up with current events and eventually chose the same pathway.

Change of Stream

McCammond penned editorials on politics and policy for The Gate, an undergraduate magazine at UChicago. Writing about it helped her realize her capacity at deciphering political news. As a result, she took Sociology and literature as a major and also studied the Spanish language. Those disciplines aided in broadening her viewpoint and approach to reporting. 

Career

McCammond rose to prominence as a political writer for Axios, a Washington-based news site, before accepting the position of editor in chief at Teen Vogue Magazine in March 2021. However, she withdrew from the post before taking on the duty. She is presently employed with her former employer Axios. 

Work and Appearances

McCammond has held the designation of a political reporter at Axios since 2017. Her writings concentrate on the 2022 midterm election and the progressive movements. She has also written editorials on the Biden-Harris campaign, voter preferences, and state elections polling patterns. 

In 2019 McCammond teamed with her colleague Jonathan Swan on a news story about Former President Trump's itinerary. The editorial encompassed Trump's private schedule for the past three months. Furthermore, the timeline revealed that Trump had spent about 60% of his allotted time in unorganized "Executive Time."

Furthermore, she has regularly been on Axios' HBO show, landing interviews with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Rep. Ilhan Omar. She also has guest-starred on CNN and Fox and is a contributor to NBC and MSNBC. 

Threatening Comment

On 19 November 2019, McCammond tweeted a threat directed by the NBA Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley that read, "Just FYI Charles Barkley told me tonight "I don't hit women but if I did I would hit you," and then when I objected to that he told me I "couldn't take a joke."" 

The threatful interaction occurred because of Berkley's conflicting favoritism of the 2020 presidential candidates, Deval Patrick and Pete Buttigieg, and McCammond's explicit emphasis on the clash.

On 20 November 2019, Turner Sports released an apology on behalf of Berkley that read, "My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable. It was an attempted joke that wasn't funny at all. There's no excuse for it and I apologize." McCammond tweeted back to the apology emphasizing the culture of misogyny.

Racist Tweets 

Back in 2011, McCammond had tweeted "Outdone by Asian," with the hashtag "#whatsnew." Her other racist remarks read, "now googling how to not wake up with swollen, Asian eyes," and "give me a 2/10 on my chem problem, cross out all of my work and don't explain what I did wrong thanks a lot stupid Asian T.A. you're great." 

The incendiary tweets were brought back in 2019 after she chastised Charles Barkley for casually threatening her with violence. She subsequently apologized, stating that her previous tweets were different from her current beliefs. McCammond also deleted the tweets then. However, she had to face it again when she was announced for the reputed position of Editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue.

Resignation from Teen Vogue

On 5 March 2021, Teen Vogue, on its Twitter account, announced McCammond as their new Editor-in-chief. Shortly after the announcement, many Instagram users called attention to McCammond's racist tweets between 2011 and 2012. Though the original tweets were already deleted, screenshots of those circulated on the Internet.

Some individuals believed McCammond should be held accountable for her conduct, even though she had made the statements many years before. Contrarily, some emphasized that she posted the tweets when she was a teenager, a period where many make dubious judgments. Yet, her past racist remarks and spurred homophobic slurs clashed with what Teen Vogue stood for - inclusivity. So, McCammond had to quit the job even before joining the position due to the pressure from social media users, marketers, and the reputation concerns by the Teen Vogue staff.

Award 

McCammond earned the 2019 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Michael J. Feeney, 'Emerging Journalist of the Year Award' on 9 August 2019, in honor of her exceptional work, which would frequently go viral. 

Personal Life

TJ Ducklo, a former White House deputy press secretary, is her boyfriend. He resigned from the position after it was revealed that he had posed threatening remarks to a Politico writer.