Katie Zacharia Out as White House Press Secretary After Five Days
Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary five days into the job after a rocky first briefing and scrutiny of her legal credentials. President Trump said he told her to reconsider; she posted that working for him was an honor.
WASHINGTON: Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary, five days after taking the job, ending a brief tenure marked by a rocky first briefing and questions about her legal credentials.
President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he had spoken with Zacharia before departing for a campaign trip to Georgia and suggested she reconsider the role. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” Trump said, adding that she had been treated “very rough” by the media. A White House official and another person familiar with the matter said she was being transitioned out of the job and would move to another role to be announced later, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Zacharia addressed the departure in a social media post Friday night, writing that it was “an honor” to work for Trump.
A five-day stint after a rocky debut
Trump named Zacharia to the post on Oct. 9, succeeding Karoline Leavitt, who resigned in August after serving as press secretary since the start of his second term. Zacharia, a conservative commentator and senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, made her first appearance at the briefing room podium on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Her first briefing lasted 14 minutes, during which she read from prepared notes and took questions from three reporters: Breitbart News, Fox News and the Daily Mail.
The debut drew wide criticism, including from Trump-friendly media. Fox News host Sean Hannity pressed her on Thursday about her preparation and her professional background, and on Friday morning she appeared on “Fox & Friends,” where she was asked whether she still had the president’s confidence.
Questions over her legal background
Scrutiny also centered on how Zacharia had described her legal background. Although she had publicly identified herself as a lawyer, she confirmed to USA Today in an Oct. 15 interview that she failed the California bar exam in 2011 and never obtained a law license in the United States. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had called her an attorney when announcing her appointment.
A record-short tenure
At five days, Zacharia’s stint is the shortest for a White House press secretary or comparable aide in recent memory. Anthony Scaramucci lasted 11 days as White House communications director in 2017 before he was fired, according to USA Today. Scaramucci weighed in on the news on X, writing: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”
Trump said Friday he was in no rush to name a replacement for the post.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.
