Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says she remains 'ruthlessly loyal' to Donald Trump even after the president told a crowd she had 'freaked out' in her brief time working for him.
Zacharia, 41, lasted just five days on the job before a series of gaffes and nervous performances led Trump to fire her last week.
Despite Trump revisiting her tumultuous tenure at a Florida rally on Friday by branding her a 'poor young woman,' Zacharia had nothing but good things to say about the president after the rally.
'No wonder that poor young woman - she was a perfect, beautiful woman - when she walked into that press room and they started screaming at her, she freaked out,' Trump said.
Still, Zacharia told Newsweek: 'It was an honor to work for President Trump, and no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than him.'
She vowed that 'the best is yet to come,' and said her week in the Trump administration included working 'around the clock' ahead of the midterm elections.
'As Rudyard Kipling wrote, "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch." After a week with him on the midterm blitz, I saw that in action,' Zacharia said.
'Working around the clock with world leaders - bringing hostages home and brokering peace - while speaking to crowds of Americans to win the midterms and deliver for the people.
'No one has carried the water for the Republican Party and America First like he has for over a decade, all without losing the common touch.'
Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says she remains 'ruthlessly loyal' to Donald Trump even after the president mocked her for 'freaking out' in her brief time working for him
Zacharia, 41, lasted just five days on the job before a series of gaffes and nervous performances led Trump to fire her last week
Zacharia's praise of Trump comes after she was brutally ousted after less than a week, making her the shortest-serving press secretary in White House history.
Trump initially defended Zacharia after her tough start, accusing the media of treating her unfairly and saying questions over her background were irrelevant.
The president went on to say he asked Zacharia, 'Is this for you?' and said he would have reconsidered if he was in her position, telling her: 'You don't need this.'
After Zacharia left the post, her predecessor Karoline Leavitt shared a scathingly blunt assessment of her performance, saying the role 'obviously wasn't for her.'
'Look, the White House press secretary is a tough job,' Leavitt told Fox News.
'I know that because I did it, obviously, for almost two years, and many people say it’s one of the hardest jobs in politics. It takes a lot of preparation, and sometimes you don’t know how someone will perform until they go out there.'
Leavitt also implied that Zacharia was not prepared enough to take on the high-profile job, recalling that she 'prepared like heck' when she started.
'I poured myself into my preparation. I read, I studied, I talked to every Cabinet member, I talked to the president. I just absorbed as much information as this noggin up here could,' she said.
Zacharia said she stands by the president because 'no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than him'
Zacharia became the shortest-serving press secretary in White House history
Zacharia also faced questions over her legal credentials after it was brought to light that she had failed the California bar exam in 2011.
She then moved to Beijing with her husband and worked at a Chinese law firm.
Despite never passing the bar exam, Zacharia frequently appeared on news channels as a legal analyst, offering commentary on legal and political issues while identifying herself as a lawyer.
Zacharia's rocky debut was followed by an uncomfortable appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News show on October 15, just hours before she was pushed out of the job the following day.
Hannity delivered a notably tough grilling, confronting her over her widely criticized briefing, pressing her on why she had repeatedly described herself as a lawyer despite failing the California bar exam.
He challenged her explanation for the short briefing, asking: 'Why only three questions in 14 minutes?' before warning her that the White House briefing room would 'never be a friendly room to you.'
Zacharia defended herself by blaming the whirlwind hiring process and lack of preparation time, but the combative interview added to the scrutiny surrounding her brief tenure.