Katie Zacharia’s first week has been so rough that even Fox News has questions

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New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia’s first week has been all about Katie Zacharia, when the role should be about the president and his agenda.

Zacharia has been on the defensive, including in interviews with President Donald Trump’s allies, most starkly on Thursday night when the president’s longtime friend Sean Hannity repeatedly challenged her on Fox.

The scrutiny from Fox, which continued Friday on the president’s favorite morning show, reflects serious skepticism about her ability to represent the president going forward.

Hannity called Zacharia’s all-too-brief debut press briefing “widely panned.” She defended herself by admitting she had “very little prep time” since Trump offered her the job during their first in-person meeting about it.

Hannity sounded like he was belatedly vetting Zacharia for the job — unintentionally highlighting Trump’s lack of vetting.

The president’s Truth Social post appointing Zacharia called her “an attorney,” but she failed the bar exam, a fact she acknowledged to Hannity on Thursday night.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski has shown how Zacharia repeatedly amplified stories and posts identifying her as an attorney in recent years. The issue ultimately comes down to credibility, an essential attribute for any press secretary.

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The new White House press secretary failed the bar exam. She shared posts calling her an attorney anyway

“Between her lying about being an attorney and that humiliating debut, I have to imagine her West Wing colleagues are absolutely livid. And I suspect the knives are already out for her,” said Sarah Matthews, who served as deputy press secretary in the Trump White House until resigning the night of the January 6, 2021 attack.

White House communications director Steven Cheung has publicly defended Zacharia as “uniquely qualified and whip smart.” On Wednesday, he wrote, “At the end of this second term, she’ll be remembered as one of the all-time greats.”

But some White House officials have anonymously questioned how long Zacharia will remain in the role. And many Trump detractors have drawn parallels to Anthony Scaramucci’s infamous 11-day stint as White House communications director in 2017.

“The clock is running,” Scaramucci quipped after Tuesday’s mini-briefing. But for the record, he predicted Zacharia will last longer than he did.

“She clearly can’t handle the podium, but she doesn’t seem like a bad person,” Scaramucci told CNN on Thursday night.

Scaramucci’s theory is that Trump is focused on “bigger things and bigger personnel problems.” Amid widespread expectations of Democratic gains in the midterm elections, he thinks the president is “likely” to remove chief of staff Susie Wiles and defense secretary Pete Hegseth “right after the midterms.”

As for Zacharia, he said, “She probably won’t see the podium anytime soon because she’s not ready for that.”

Conservative commentators are not holding back their criticism. Podcaster Meghan McCain said Friday morning that Zacharia shouldn’t be anywhere near a briefing room.

“One of the biggest problems with the administration right now is every issue facing Americans is serious and all they do is keep hiring deeply unserious people to represent them,” McCain wrote on X . “It gives the impression the administration just simply doesn’t care what Americans think and that their problems aren’t worth hiring capable people with real experience.”

Zacharia’s predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, held one press briefing a week on average. Leavitt stepped down in August, shortly after returning from maternity leave. Fox News recently hired her as an on-air contributor.

Zacharia was announced as Leavitt’s successor last Friday, hours after she flew to Washington to meet with Trump about the position.

The president cited her “unblemished record of support” for his presidency and her regular TV appearances.

Zacharia’s cable news credentials are well-established. She was a popular MAGA defender on cable, including on CNN, while living in California with her family.

However, representing the US from the White House podium requires a different skill set. In Thursday interviews, Zacharia rather candidly said she might not have been ready for her briefing room debut.

Talking with Jack Posobiec, the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist who now hosts on the pro-Trump streaming channel Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she “never had a full briefing beforehand.”

It was a whirlwind hiring process, Zacharia said, starting with an unexpected call from the president on Wednesday, October 7: “Wednesday phone call; Thursday flight; Friday meeting; Saturday flight; Sunday flight; Monday, Columbus Day, federal holiday. Start work, wants a brief Tuesday morning.”

While Zacharia didn’t say so, the implication was that Trump wanted her out there and on camera as soon as possible.

Zacharia read pro-Trump talking points, then called on three reporters — one asked about Kimberly Guilfoyle, then the embattled US ambassador to Greece, which led Zacharia to announce that the president had asked Guilfoyle to resign.

Speaking with Hannity, Zacharia touted that moment: “I delivered some breaking news. I think I’m one of the first press secretaries to deliver staff changes for the administration, and I was honored that President Trump trusted me delivering that information.”

Hannity, a close confidant of the president, sounded unimpressed with her press briefing performance and her answers on Thursday night.

As the TV segment’s outro music began to play, indicating Zacharia was out of time, she tried to reassure Hannity: “I will be very prepared, Sean, and I will step up to the duty President Trump has asked me to as press secretary.”

Later in the evening, Trump indicated he had watched the broadcast because he posted on Truth Social praising one of Hannity’s other guests.

On Friday morning, “Fox & Friends” co-host (and Hannity’s fiancée) Ainsley Earhardt referenced the previous interview and expressed sympathy for Zacharia. “You were just thrown into this role,” she remarked.

“Fox & Friends” interviews with Trump administration officials are often genial, but Earhardt’s fellow co-hosts appeared skeptical. “It’s been a tough week for you,” Lawrence Jones said to her.

Jones asked whether she wished she had told the president she never passed the bar exam — a fact that emerged amid days of press scrutiny of her background.

“Those questions weren’t asked,” she said. “I’m being hired as White House press secretary, not White House counsel.”

Even as the Fox hosts — known for their Trump boosterism — scrutinized her credentials and credibility, Zacharia pivoted to blaming the “legacy media,” arguing that unnamed other outlets want to “put the focus and attention on me” because they “want to be distracted from the major wins that President Trump is making for America.”

When Earhardt asked when the next press briefing would be, Zacharia didn’t say. Then Jones asked: “Do you think you still have the confidence of the president?”

“I’m standing here,” Zacharia responded, referring to the fact that she was live from the White House North Lawn.

When the interview ended, Zacharia said hello to a crowd of reporters gathered outside, but declined to answer any questions.

“I’m not taking any questions, but I wanted to let you know I’m looking forward to working with all of you so much,” she said. “Please get my number, reach out to me, call me, text me, email me.”

Matthews told CNN that Zacharia should have waited to hold her first briefing “until she felt adequately prepared.”

“Karoline Leavitt was doing that job while pregnant and was ruthlessly efficient at it,” Matthews said. “Now, much of that involved lying and gaslighting the American public, but she knew how to command a briefing room. And if Zacharia can’t even handle a Hannity interview? She is in for a rough ride.”

Molly English and Kit Maher contributed reporting.

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新任白宫新闻秘书凯蒂·扎卡里亚上任的第一周，所有注意力都集中在她自己身上，而这个职位应该关注总统及其议程。

扎卡里亚一直处于守势，包括在接受唐纳德·特朗普总统盟友的采访时，尤其是在周四晚上，总统的长期好友肖恩·汉尼提在福克斯新闻上反复质问她。

福克斯新闻的审视，周五在总统最喜欢的早间节目中继续进行，反映出人们对她未来代表总统的能力严重怀疑。

汉尼提称扎卡里亚过于简短的首次新闻发布会“遭到广泛批评”。扎卡里亚辩解说，由于特朗普在两人首次就此职位进行面对面会谈时就向她提供了这份工作，所以她“几乎没有准备时间”。

汉尼提的言论听起来像是对扎卡里亚是否适合这份工作进行了事后的审查——无意中凸显了特朗普缺乏审查工作。

总统在 Truth Social 上发布的任命 Zacharia 的帖子称她为“律师”，但她没有通过律师资格考试，她在周四晚上向 Hannity 承认了这一点。

CNN的安德鲁·卡钦斯基指出，近年来，扎卡里亚多次转发和传播有关她律师身份的报道和帖子。归根结底，问题在于信誉，而信誉对于任何一位新闻秘书来说都是至关重要的。

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新任白宫新闻秘书未能通过律师资格考试。但她仍然发布帖子，自称是律师。

“她谎称自己是律师，再加上那次令人难堪的首次亮相，我猜想她在白宫西翼的同事们肯定气疯了。而且我怀疑他们已经开始对她进行报复了，”萨拉·马修斯说道。马修斯曾在特朗普白宫担任副新闻秘书，直到2021年1月6日袭击事件当晚辞职。

白宫通讯主任史蒂文·张公开为扎卡里亚辩护，称她“能力非凡，才智过人”。周三，他写道：“在她第二个任期结束时，她将被铭记为史上最伟大的官员之一。”

但一些白宫官员匿名质疑扎卡里亚能在这个职位上待多久。许多特朗普的批评者将此事与安东尼·斯卡拉穆奇2017年臭名昭著的11天白宫通讯主任任期相提并论。

“时间紧迫，”斯卡拉穆奇在周二的简短简报会后打趣道。但据他所说，他预测扎卡里亚的任期会比他更长。

“她显然无法胜任讲台上的工作，但她看起来不像个坏人，”斯卡拉穆奇周四晚上告诉 CNN。

斯卡拉穆奇的理论是，特朗普正专注于“更重要的事情和更重要的人事问题”。鉴于人们普遍预期民主党将在中期选举中获胜，他认为总统“很可能”在中期选举结束后立即撤换白宫幕僚长苏西·威尔斯和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯。

至于扎卡里亚，他说：“她可能近期内都无法登上领奖台，因为她还没有做好准备。”

保守派评论员毫不留情地批评扎卡里亚。播客主持人梅根·麦凯恩周五早上表示，扎卡里亚根本不应该出现在新闻发布室附近。

麦凯恩在X网站上写道：“本届政府目前最大的问题之一是，美国民众面临的每一个问题都很严肃，但他们却不断聘用一些极其不负责任的人来代表他们。这给人一种印象，即本届政府根本不在乎美国民众的想法，认为他们的问题不值得聘用真正有能力、有经验的人来解决。”

扎卡里亚的前任卡罗琳·莱维特平均每周举行一次新闻发布会。莱维特在8月份卸任，此前不久她刚刚结束产假。福克斯新闻最近聘请她担任电视节目评论员。

上周五，扎卡里亚被宣布为莱维特的继任者，此前几个小时，她飞往华盛顿与特朗普会面商讨这一职位。

总统称赞她“一直以来都坚定支持”他的总统任期，并经常在电视节目中露面。

扎卡里亚在有线电视新闻界的资历毋庸置疑。她曾是颇受欢迎的“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）支持者，在包括CNN在内的有线电视新闻网都有亮相，当时她和家人住在加利福尼亚州。

然而，代表美国在白宫讲台上发言需要不同的技能。扎卡里亚在周四的采访中坦率地表示，她可能还没有做好在新闻发布室首次亮相的准备。

扎卡里亚与“披萨门”阴谋论者杰克·波索比克（Jack Posobiec）交谈时表示，她“事先从未得到过完整的简报”。波索比克是支持特朗普的流媒体频道“真正的美国之声”（Real America's Voice）的主持人。

扎卡里亚说，这是一次旋风般的招聘过程，始于10月7日星期三总统打来的一个意想不到的电话：“星期三电话；星期四航班；星期五会议；星期六航班；星期日航班；星期一，哥伦布日，联邦假日。开始工作，星期二上午想简单汇报一下。”

虽然扎卡里亚没有明说，但言下之意是特朗普希望她尽快出现在镜头前。

扎卡里亚宣读了支持特朗普的谈话要点，然后点名让三位记者提问——其中一位记者问及当时身陷困境的美国驻希腊大使金伯利·吉尔福伊尔，这导致扎卡里亚宣布总统已要求吉尔福伊尔辞职。

扎卡里亚在接受汉尼提采访时，对那一刻津津乐道：“我发布了一些重大新闻。我想我是首批宣布政府人事变动的白宫新闻秘书之一，我很荣幸特朗普总统信任我，让我传递这些信息。”

总统的亲信汉尼提对她周四晚上的新闻发布会表现和回答似乎并不满意。

电视节目的结尾音乐开始播放，表明扎卡里亚的时间到了，她试图向汉尼提保证：“肖恩，我会做好充分的准备，我会尽职尽责地履行特朗普总统要求我作为新闻秘书的职责。”

当晚晚些时候，特朗普表示他观看了该节目，因为他在 Truth Social 上发帖称赞了汉尼提的另一位嘉宾。

周五早上，《福克斯与朋友们》节目联合主持人（也是汉尼提的未婚妻）艾恩斯利·厄哈特提到了之前的采访，并对扎卡里亚表示同情。“你完全是被推到这个位置上的，”她说道。

《福克斯与朋友们》节目对特朗普政府官员的采访通常都很友好，但厄哈特的两位搭档主持人似乎持怀疑态度。“你这周过得很艰难吧？”劳伦斯·琼斯对她说。

琼斯问她是否后悔没有告诉总统她从未通过律师资格考试——这一事实是在媒体对她背景进行数日的审查后才曝光的。

“那些问题根本没人问，”她说。“我受聘的是白宫新闻秘书，不是白宫法律顾问。”

即使以支持特朗普而闻名的福克斯新闻主持人仔细审查了她的资历和可信度，扎卡里亚也转而指责“传统媒体”，声称其他一些未具名的媒体想要“把焦点和注意力放在我身上”，因为他们“想要转移人们对特朗普总统为美国取得的重大胜利的注意力”。

当厄哈特问及下次新闻发布会何时举行时，扎卡里亚没有回答。琼斯接着问道：“你认为你仍然得到总统的信任吗？”

“我就站在这里，”扎卡里亚回答道，指的是她正在白宫北草坪进行现场直播。

采访结束后，扎卡里亚向聚集在外面的一群记者打了个招呼，但拒绝回答任何问题。

“我不接受任何问题，但我只想让大家知道，我非常期待与大家一起工作，”她说。“请记下我的电话号码，联系我，给我打电话、发短信或发邮件。”

马修斯告诉 CNN，扎卡里亚应该等到“她觉得自己准备充分”后再举行第一次新闻发布会。

“卡罗琳·莱维特怀孕期间还在做这份工作，而且效率极高，”马修斯说。“当然，这其中很多都涉及撒谎和操纵美国公众，但她知道如何掌控新闻发布会。如果扎卡里亚连汉尼提的采访都应付不了？那她以后的日子可不好过。”

Molly English 和 Kit Maher 也参与了报道。