#Socialites, come get into this. Seven days… That’s how long it took for the newest face at the White House podium to go from the big announcement to the exit door.Â
RELATED: Press Secretary Katie Zacharia Admits On Fox News She Never Passed The Bar
A senior White House official says Katie Zacharia is “transitioning out” of the press secretary job, and the president himself is the one who opened the door.
Speaking to reporters, Donald Trump gave her what sounded like a soft landing and a polite shove at the same time. “Maybe it’s not for her,” he said, adding that she should reconsider. He also pushed the idea that the press is to blame, saying he doesn’t think she should be made to suffer the way she has “at the hands of the press.”
As we previously reported, Zacharia’s tenure started October 9, and the real test came Tuesday at her first briefing. She took just three questions before ending the session. For context, her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, averaged one briefing a week, and Leavitt only stepped down in August. So the bar for showing up and surviving wasn’t exactly sky high.
Then came the résumé questions, and that’s where it really got messy. Zacharia has long billed herself as an attorney. She’s described herself as a lawyer while building a name as a commentator on Fox News and Newsmax. Trump used the word “attorney” himself when he announced her. But CNN reported that its White House team found no evidence she’d passed the bar exam in the states where she’s lived and worked since law school at Pepperdine.
At least one watchdog group has asked the State Bar of California to investigate. Zacharia pushed back, saying in a statement that she “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.” She also tried to flip the script on Fox News, telling Sean Hannity, “I’m being hired as White House press secretary, not White House counsel.” Fair point on the job description, but the credibility problem didn’t go away. And credibility, as CNN’s analysis noted, is the whole ballgame for this role.
The White House had set her up with big praise on the way in. Communications director Steven Cheung called her “uniquely qualified and whip smart.” But that little line is aging about as well as milk left on the counter.
There’s no word yet on a replacement or an official departure date, and whether “transitioning out” means a reassignment, a resignation, or a polite firing is still unclear. We’ll keep watching the podium, because right now it’s the hottest seat in Washington, and nobody seems to want it.