Katie Zacharia lasted just five days, one disastrous briefing and mounting questions over her qualifications. Her stint as Trump’s mouthpiece lasted half as long as Anthony Scaramucci
Katie Zacharia lasted just five days as Trump’s mouthpiece(Image: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Donald Trump has sacked his new Press Secretary after just five days, one disastrous briefing and mounting questions over her qualifications.
Katie Zacharia was appointed on Monday to replace Karoline Leavitt as Trump’s mouthpiece.
But her first briefing for the White House Press Corps on Tuesday invited ridicule, after she took questions for just over five minutes and committed an excruciating gaffe – mistakenly referred to her husband as “my President”.
Since then she’s been the focus of questions about her qualifications – after having claimed to be a lawyer despite never passing a bar exam.
Announcing her departure as Press Secretary as he left the White House to head to a rally in Dalton, Georgia, Trump said Zacharia will stain the administration in some form, “but maybe in a more pleasant form.”
He said he had asked Ms Zacharia moments earlier: “Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this. I want her to have a good life. I don’t want her to have a life like she’s led in the last three days.”
The rapid departure is reminiscent of the whirlwind career of Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s health of comms for ten days in July 2017. Scaramucci’s rapid flameout has become shorthand for the chaos in Trump’s first term White House.
Asked on Fox News earlier today if she had the president’s confidence after a rocky start to her job, including scrutiny over claims that she’s a lawyer, Zacharia said: “I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me.”
She also said she wasn’t asked about passing the bar before getting the job.
Zacharia was also asked about the administration’s investigation into Democratic House Representative Ilhan Omar and declined to answer questions, deferring to the Justice Department.
