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The
departure
of
Katie
Zacharia
Friday
leaves
the
White
House
searching
again
for its
chief
spokesperson
less
than
three
weeks
before
the
midterm
elections.
(Tell Us
USA Ai
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Katie
Zacharia
leaving
White
House
press
secretary
job
after
five
days
Diane
Simpson
- White
House
Correspondent
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
— Katie
Zacharia
is
leaving
her job
as White
House
press
secretary
after
just
five
days, an
abrupt
exit
that
followed
a
troubled
briefing-room
debut,
questions
about
her
legal
credentials
and
President
Donald
Trump’s
public
suggestion
that she
reconsider
taking
the job.
The
departure
Friday
leaves
the
White
House
searching
again
for its
chief
spokesperson
less
than
three
weeks
before
the
midterm
elections.
A senior
White
House
official
and
other
sources
told ABC
News
that
Zacharia
was
“transitioning
out” of
the
position.
Two U.S.
officials
told CBS
News she
was
being
removed.
Sources
familiar
with the
discussions
told CBS
News she
was
expected
to take
another
administration
job.
The
White
House
had not
announced
her
replacement.
Trump’s
comments
earlier
Friday
put
Zacharia’s
future
in doubt
before
reports
of her
departure
emerged.
“I said
to her,
‘Honestly,
if I
were
you, I’d
reconsider.
You
think
about
it, but
I would
reconsider,’”
Trump
told
reporters.
The
president
blamed
harsh
treatment
by the
news
media
and said
he had
told
Zacharia
she did
not have
to
remain
in the
position.
NBC News
reported
that
Trump
initially
said the
decision
would be
hers.
Within
hours,
news
organizations
reported
her
tenure
was
ending.
Trump
announced
Zacharia’s
appointment
Oct. 9
to
replace
Karoline
Leavitt,
who left
the
position
in
August.
Zacharia
started
Monday.
By
Friday,
her
first
week had
become
her
last.
Her only
White
House
briefing,
held
Tuesday,
lasted
about 15
minutes
and
included
prepared
remarks
and
questions
from
three
news
outlets,
according
to CBS
News.
Zacharia
subsequently
said she
had
received
briefing
materials
that
morning
and had
little
time to
prepare
— an
explanation
that
raised
questions
about
the
preparation
behind
her
introduction
as the
president’s
principal
spokesperson.
“What I
feel is
I really
stepped
up to
the
plate to
do the
press
conference,
Sean,
with
very
little
prep
time,”
she told
Fox News
host
Sean
Hannity
on
Thursday.
Questions
about
her
professional
credentials
added to
the
pressure.
Zacharia,
a
Pepperdine
law
school
graduate,
acknowledged
Thursday
that she
had not
passed
the
California
bar
examination,
according
to NBC
News and
CBS
News.
She had
previously
described
herself
as a
lawyer.
Speaking
with
conservative
commentator
Jack
Posobiec,
Zacharia
defended
that
description
by
saying
she had
not
called
herself
an
“attorney
at law.”
The
watchdog
group
Campaign
for
Accountability
filed a
complaint
with the
State
Bar of
California
asking
it to
investigate
whether
her
descriptions
of her
qualifications
violated
state
law, NBC
News
reported.
The
complaint
did not
constitute
a
finding
of
wrongdoing.
Before
entering
the
White
House,
Zacharia
worked
as a
conservative
commentator
and as a
senior
communications
adviser
to Trump
Media &
Technology
Group,
the
company
behind
Truth
Social.
Her move
to the
briefing
room was
supposed
to put
her at
the
center
of the
administration’s
public
message.
Instead,
her
performance
and
qualifications
became
the
story,
and the
president
publicly
questioned
her
suitability
for the
job
before
her
first
week was
over.
This
Tell Us
USA News
Network
report
is
produced
in part
by Ai
and can
make
mistakes.
Please
contact
and let
us know
of any
errors
you may
find.
info@tellususa.com
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