White House says Press Secretary Katie Zacharia ‘let go’ from role after 5 days
Her firing comes after scrutiny over how she presented her legal career and whether she was fit for the role
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was “let go” from the role, a White House official said on Friday, after US President Donald Trump said he had told her to reconsider the job following public scrutiny.
The move came following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss.
“I told her: ‘I think you’re better off being happy, and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.’ There’s nothing easy about this stuff,” Trump told reporters while departing the White House.
He added: “I said to her honestly, ‘If I were you, I’d reconsider… think about it. But I would reconsider.'”
Fox News, citing a White House official, later reported that Zacharia was “transitioning” out of the role of press secretary. Zacharia started the job on Monday and held her debut White House briefing on Tuesday.
She had said she received a call about the role of press secretary last Wednesday and got offered the job to succeed Karoline Leavitt last Friday.
Trump later announced her appointment. In his announcement, he described her as an attorney.
Zacharia had got off to a rocky start with her debut press room briefing Tuesday morning.
It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a remarkably slow reading out of what she said were Trump’s many accomplishments — then taking just three questions from journalists.
She then was plunged into controversy when it emerged that her previous claims to be a lawyer were not true.
The kerfuffle is a distraction for 80-year-old Trump as he flies around the country trying to boost Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 congressional midterm elections, with polls predicting a drubbing.
The Republican leader himself also faces ever-lower polls as Americans sour over the war against Iran, inflation and perceptions of corruption.
Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.
While she does have a law degree from a California university, she acknowledged Thursday she had failed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practicing law in the United States.
She embarked on a series of damage-control interviews on Trump-friendly outlets, but they did no good.
In one of them, Fox News’ Sean Hannity, a close Trump ally, appeared dismissive of Zacharia.
He asked the press secretary if she ever retook the bar exam. She replied: “I did not.”
“It was never my intent to go into the practice of law,” she said.
In another interview Thursday with pro-Trump outlet Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had registered to take the bar exam but was “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to move to China with her husband.
Zacharia said “many people in the field” had assured her that she could “label myself a lawyer,” given her law degree.
“Fox and Friends,” which often conducts friendly interviews with Trump administration officials, was unusually direct Friday when a host asked Zacharia if she still had the confidence of the president.
“I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me,” she said, sidestepping the question.
Zacharia further stirred controversy on Thursday when she disparaged China, whose leader Xi Jinping was recently Trump’s guest in a pomp-filled Washington visit.
The press secretary recalled the perception in 2016 was that China would soon overtake the United States.
“I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, ‘How is China the next country on the horizon? They don’t even have proper toilets,'” she told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec in an interview.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning responded Friday that Zacharia should “visit China more often.”