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Powerful White House official — and Jill Biden’s ‘work husband’ — is a #MeToo nightmare with claims of bullying, sexual harassment

Anthony Bernal, whose status as the first lady’s top aide grants him enormous clout in both White House operations and Democratic politics, has repeatedly speculated in the workplace about the penis size of colleagues, according to three sources with firsthand knowledge.

Two sources said Bernal, 50, shared with them a theory that the size of a person’s thumb corresponds to that of their genitalia — citing the hypothesis both at the White House and in prior roles during President Biden’s campaign and vice presidency under President Barack Obama.

“It is to make people uncomfortable and to have power over them,” said one source who told The Post they heard Bernal make the crude remarks over several years while they worked together.

“It is Me Too — classic Me Too,” the source added.

A second source recounted hearing Bernal speculate “often” inside the White House about the endowments of fellow political aides and even Secret Service agents.

A third source recalled a disparaging “jab” during a workplace disagreement in which Bernal said a colleague had a small penis, as well as a separate encounter in which the top aide “remarked on another staffer’s bulge in his khakis.”

The third former colleague said both of those incidents occurred before Biden’s presidency.

“It was a lot of inappropriate remarks — talking about other people’s attractiveness and speculating about their sex lives at very weird moments,” the person said, adding that he had come to see “that’s actually sexual harassment.”

Four sources, meanwhile, said Bernal has speculated aloud in the workplace on the sexuality of colleagues — including at the White House — in a way that makes others uncomfortable.

“I have heard him say inappropriate things about people’s sexuality or pry inappropriately into people’s personal lives,” one former co-worker recalled of Bernal, who is openly gay.

“I heard him ask if people are gay all the time.”

Another source who has worked with Bernal said, “I could think of more than one instance where he pontificated on whether someone was gay or not or said, ‘They are definitely gay.’”

In total, The Post heard from almost a dozen current and former colleagues of Bernal as part of its investigation.

Another source who has worked with Bernal said, “I could think of more than one instance where he pontificated on whether someone was gay or not or said, ‘They are definitely gay.’”

The sources who had varying degrees of negative personal experiences with Bernal said they were coming forward because they want him held accountable for what they describe as a long record of bullying.

Some sources also said they consider it “hypocritical” for Biden to keep Bernal on his staff after the president vowed on his first day in office to fire aides “on the spot” if he hears that they have shown “disrespect” to people in their professional conduct.

“It reflects poorly on the president and the first lady,” said one of the sources who described verbal torment.

“They talk a big game about integrity, decency, and kindness but when you work for the Bidens, you experience anything but that,” said another former White House adviser, who, like other sources, asked for anonymity in order to speak candidly and for fear of retaliation.

“They choose to surround themselves with bullies who run around the White House like mean girls, making the president and first lady look like phonies to everyone in Washington because everyone on the inside talks about what happens there on the outside.”

Bernal’s aggressive treatment of colleagues has previously been reported — including an August  2021 story by Politico that noted his “mean streak” — but prior reports did not include allegations of sexual harassment.

“I don’t think people understand how much power and influence he has. The problem is it is career-ending for anyone to talk on the record for these stories,” said one of the sources, who described Bernal as creating a “hostile work environment” for employees of both the first lady’s East Wing and those he encountered in the West Wing.

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