White House press secretary Katie Zacharia’s debut was so poor it made Karoline Leavitt look like Cicero.
The newly appointed press secretary spoke slowly and awkwardly during her debut press conference Tuesday, as if she had never seen or uttered the words in front of her prior to taking the podium. Her cadence was clunky, closer to that of a fourth grader reading school announcements over an intercom than a polished political communications professional. It’s clear he was never meant to be more than another blonde conservative placeholder on Fox News. The SNL spoof feels imminent.
“I want to thank President Trump. For his trust that he has placed in me. I have wanted to work for him for a very. Long. time. I’m looking forward to working with each of you as well,” she said with lots of awkward pauses in between. “Especially as we are in the middle of the midterm blitz. With energy and excitement never seen before in the history of midterms—thanks to President Trump.”
She also referred to Trump as “the most family-friendly president we’ve ever had” and casually announced that the administration had asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle—recently exposed for an alleged pay-to-play scandal—to resign.
Zacharia, stuttering: Now we have a booming economy pic.twitter.com/zRQcApr4lO
— FactPost (@factpostnews) October 13, 2026
Zacharia ended the press conference after about 15 minutes, shortly after the bombshell revelation about Guilfoyle.
Katie Zacharia makes Karoline Leavitt seem like Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/AgFbrCALAq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2026
One unnamed White House source told MS NOW after the press conference that if Zacharia doesn’t improve quickly, she’ll break Anthony Scaramucci’s record.
“Getting behind the podium is tough, but she got off on the wrong foot. She needs to get much better, fast, otherwise she’ll break Scaramucci’s record.” Scaramucci served as head of comms and de facto press secretary for the White House for just 10 days in Trump’s first term before he was fired.
Zacharia, 42, was formerly a senior adviser at Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group. She’s appeared on Fox News, Newsmax, and CNN.
😬 Katie Zacharia's first press briefing was brutally bad 😬
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2026
Trump managed to find a press secretary who can barely read, but she does have the number one qualification -- looking like Ivanka
Here's a supercut from Zacharia's first briefing, which made Karoline Leavitt seem… pic.twitter.com/H8xbpAGAW7