White House press secretary Katie Zachariah has reportedly been fired from her role after a controversial first week in the job, according to advisers to US President Donald Trump.
Trump reportedly fired Zachariah after earlier telling reporters he had asked her to “reconsider” her role as his top spokesperson.
She was appointed less than a week ago, having held her first press briefing on Tuesday morning, which critics said was littered with embarrassing mistakes and verbal stumbles.
Earlier on Friday, Trump told reporters he had said to her: “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.”
“Katie, do you need this?” he added. “I don’t think you need this.”
The comments came after Zachariah was embroiled in a scandal this week over her claims that she had been a practicing attorney.
On her first day in the role, Zachariah told reporters she had passed the bar exam, necessary for lawyers in the US to practice law.
But in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, she corrected that she had failed the California bar exam in 2011 and never retook it.
Combined with her stilted press briefings, the allegations that she had misrepresented her legal background amounted to a disastrous first week on the job.
Now, according to Trump’s advisers, he has decided to let her go. Speaking to reporters earlier, he praised Zachariah’s support but added “maybe it’s not for her”.
This is a breaking news story which will be updated.