Donald Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, was fired on Friday, just five days after taking the job. The news was confirmed to The Guardian by a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the decision, which has not yet been made official.
Zacharias had a rocky start to her tenure as press secretary. Her first White House press conference on Tuesday was widely criticized. She faced questions about her legal credentials after admitting she had failed the bar exam.
Zacharia, a little-known conservative political analyst who spent most of her career in communications roles, was offered the role of White House press secretary on October 9.
In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, she gave details about the rapid "run" to the podium to replace Caroline Leavitt as the president's chief spokeswoman.
But on Friday, Trump told reporters that he had asked Zacharias to "reconsider" the position as press secretary, following increasing negative media attention.
"I said, 'Is this for you, Katie? Because frankly, you don't need it,'" Trump said, speaking to reporters outside the White House. "I said to her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider. Think about it, but I would reconsider.'"
During her first press conference, Zacharia faced several remarks highlighting Trump's accomplishments during his presidency. She made a notable gaffe when she called her husband "the president."
Members of the White House press corps were surprised when she ended the briefing after only answering questions from three mostly conservative media outlets.
Questions about Zacharias' resume grew in the following days, as reports emerged that she, who described herself as a lawyer, had never passed the bar exam. She later confirmed that she had taken the bar exam once and failed.
Zacharia was said to have graduated from Pepperdine University law school and shared posts on social media identifying herself as a “lawyer.” Trump also called Zacharia a “lawyer” when he announced her nomination.
Over the past few days, Zacharia spoke to members of the media in an attempt to clarify her legal credentials and argue that she was ready to take on the role of the president's chief spokeswoman.
In an unexpectedly awkward interview Thursday night, Fox host Sean Hannity quizzed Zacharia about her first press conference, bluntly asking, "What happened?"
She tried to explain that she had little time to prepare in the days between accepting the job and holding her first press conference.
On Friday morning, Lawrence Jones, a Fox & Friends host, told Zacharias: "I know, Katie, it's been a tough week for you. It's not an easy job to be a press secretary, and you never want to be the news."
Speaking to reporters, Trump said the interviewers had been "a little rough" with Zacharia. "I would say she was treated pretty badly," the president said. ©LAPSI.al
