White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia is out after just five days on the job.
President Trump told reporters Friday that he would talk to Zacharia about a new role.
“I said, ‘When I get back we’re going to talk,'” Trump said, “because I don’t think that Katie should be made to suffer like she’s suffering at the hands of the press.”
Zacharia, a commentator who had appeared on Fox News, had a brutal week after being appointed by the president on Oct. 9. She took over from Karoline Leavitt, who left to join Fox News as a contributor.
Though Zacharia has styled herself as an “attorney,” she has since acknowledged that she did not pass the bar exam and is not licensed to practice law. She had a brief 14-minute press conference on Tuesday, taking only three questions, and on Thursday endured a grilling from Fox host Sean Hannity.
“What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time,” she said. “Given the fact I had been on the job less than maybe eight hours, and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day.”
Hannity followed up with a series of skeptical questions about her credentials. Zacharia defended calling herself a “lawyer” because she had a valid law degree.
Her faltering performance led to speculation about whether she would outlast Anthony Scaramucci, the press secretary who survived just 11 days in Trump’s first term.
In the end, she did not.
“Records are made to be broken,” Scaramucci quipped on X. “But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”
Fox News reported Friday that Zacharia would be “transitioning out” of the job.