A bombshell scandal has erupted in first lady Jill Biden’s office and the White House, according to a new report by The New York Post.
The report alleges that Anthony Bernal, a top White House official and Jill’s closest aide, has repeatedly sexually harassed and bullied colleagues over many years.
Bernal’s inappropriate behavior includes speculating about co-workers’ genitalia sizes, making crude comments about their sexuality, and subjecting staffers to verbal abuse that has reduced some to tears, according to multiple sources cited in the article.
President Joe Biden campaigned on “restoring dignity” to the White House. Instead, insiders say he brought sexual harassment and bullying back.
The details from nearly a dozen named and unnamed current and former Biden staff paint a disturbing picture from Jill’s “work husband.”
Three sources claim Bernal openly shared a sexual theory that thumb size corresponds to penis size, musing about colleagues’ genitals both in the current administration and dating back to Biden’s vice presidency.
“It is to make people uncomfortable and to have power over them…It is Me Too — classic Me Too,” one source put it bluntly.
A second source recounted Bernal speculating “often” about the genitalia of staffers and even Secret Service agents while inside the White House in order to make others uncomfortable.
A third described Bernal making a disparaging “jab” about a colleague having a small penis during a workplace disagreement, as well as remarking on another’s “bulge.”
The allegations get much, much worse.
Four sources also alleged that the openly gay Bernal frequently speculates aloud about colleagues’ sexuality in an “inappropriate” manner to intentionally make people uncomfortable.
“I have heard him say inappropriate things about people’s sexuality or pry inappropriately into people’s personal lives,” one former co-worker told The Post.
While the allegations of sexual harassment are new, Bernal’s reported bullying behavior has previously been documented.
The article cites a 2021 Politico story noting his “mean streak,” and multiple sources described him as frequently demeaning towards staffers to the point of reducing them to tears.
“He calls people ‘stupid,’ he plays games with people — basically he talks s**t about everyone [about their] intelligence, what they’re wearing, or what they look like in their clothes,” one source claimed.
However, what makes the alleged misconduct particularly explosive are Bernal’s close ties to Jill Biden herself. Sources indicated he is considered “untouchable” due to the First Lady referring to him as her “work husband” and having her implicit trust.
As one put it, “nobody wants to piss off Dr. Biden” given her influence over the president.
This immunity has allegedly enabled Bernal’s behavior to fester unchecked.
“There’s no way [Jill Biden] doesn’t know. It has been going on so long,” a source stated, while another said staffers have been informed Bernal is “‘protected’ by Jill.”
Louise Fitzgerald, an expert in workplace sexual harassment policy, told the Post that Bernal’s alleged conduct would constitute illegal gender hostility and harassment. “It is the form of harassment that scientists refer to as gender hostility or gender harassment,” Fitzgerald said. “It generally has nothing at all to do with getting somebody into bed; rather it’s a power play whose purpose is to denigrate individuals on the basis of their sex, sexuality, or gender presentation.”
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients denied the allegations, and said the Bidens have “full confidence” in Bernal’s “character” and called the reported allegations of sexual harassment “unfounded attacks.” Bernal himself also denied the claims.
The allegations have sparked criticism over hypocrisy, with the White House being accused of failing to uphold the president’s own stated policy of immediate termination for disrespectful conduct by staffers.
“They talk a big game about integrity, decency, and kindness but when you work for the Bidens, you experience anything but that,” one former adviser said.
Some argued Jill Biden was willfully turning a blind eye, with a source saying: “I don’t think she has a lot of advisers willing to give her a gut check. I think she thinks that Anthony’s like her bulldog protecting her.”
Another claimed the Bidens “couldn’t care less how the staff is treated because staff is totally disposable to them.”
In the age of “believe all women” and “#MeToo” attacks by Democrats, the allegations inside the Biden White House raise serious questions about the standards and culture that demand further scrutiny.
The Horn editorial team