A new report claims Trump’s press secretary, who lasted just five days in the job, was set up by someone close to him.
Katie Zacharia didn’t last a week as White House press secretary. On Thursday she sat down with Fox News host Sean Hannity for an interview that did not go well, and on Friday the job was over. Now Politico has reported that it may not have been an accident.
The outlet spoke to two people familiar with the inside workings of the West Wing. One of them described the Hannity interview as a “sanctioned hit,” while the other said White House spokesperson Danielle Alvarez and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles “fed her to Hannity.” Wiles and Hannity are friendly and speak often, one of the sources also said and Zacharia not being Wiles’ first choice for the job in the first place was also mentioned.
The Thursday night interview
The infamous interview on Thursday aired in prime time, on a network and with a host Trump’s team normally counts on. Hannity had even defended Zacharia against what he called the “abusively biased corrupt news media” earlier in the week.
This time, however, he pressed her on her first briefing, and on her claims to be a lawyer after it emerged that she had never passed the bar exam. “Why didn’t you just say: ‘I never practiced law’?” he asked her. He also asked why she had taken questions from only three reporters, and what she would do differently going forward.
The next morning, the hosts of Fox & Friends asked whether she still had the president’s confidence. By Friday afternoon, she was out.
It’s unclear what Wiles would have gained from Zacharia leaving
Wiles, the White House chief of staff, is one of the most powerful people around Trump. Politico also reported earlier that week that Trump was thinking about replacing her.
The report doesn’t say what Wiles would have gained from Zacharia leaving, though. It just describes the interview as a “sanctioned hit” and leaves it there.
The White House also pushes back on the claim. Communications director Steven Cheung, who was one of the names floated as Karoline Leavitt’s successor, called the report “speculation,” and a senior White House official told Politico: “Susie and Sean do talk, but Susie did not need to feed her to Sean or anybody else.”
Fox News said Wiles and Alvarez “had nothing to do with the booking.” Zacharia herself has declined to comment. Cheung said Zacharia “took on a very important job, and she will continue to support the President as she transitions to a new role.” She is expected to stay in the administration.
A week that was shaky from the start
Trump announced Zacharia as his pick on October 9, to replace Karoline Leavitt, who stepped aside in August. Many other names in addition to Cheung’s were speculated as Leavitt’s successorss, including CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly.
Zacharia is a conservative commentator and lawyer by training. She had worked as a communications adviser for the company behind Truth Social, and earlier this year she spent only a few weeks as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.
Her first and only briefing came on Tuesday, October 13. It lasted about 14 minutes. She mostly read from a script, took questions from three outlets, and at one point said “my president” instead of “my husband.” The White House called it “commanding.” Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki compared it to an SNL skit.
One White House official told MSNOW that she “needs to get much better fast, otherwise she’ll break Scaramucci’s record.” A CBS News source said she spent the week unusually isolated and didn’t function as a press secretary.
Trump’s words on the ordeal
On Friday, Trump told reporters outside the White House that he had advised her to step back. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” he said. He also said he thought the press had been harsh with her, and that he asked her: “Katie, is this for you?”
Her five days are the shortest tenure for a White House press secretary on record, and about half the time Anthony Scaramucci lasted as communications director in 2017. Scaramucci posted on X: “Speaking as the world’s leading expert on short White House tenures: turn off the news and go enjoy your family.”
After she left, Zacharia wrote on X that it had been an honor to work for Trump, whom she called “a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man.”
Two sources told NBC News that Trump is highly unlikely to choose a new press secretary any time soon with the midterm elections just 17 days away.
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