Katie Zacharia defended her debut White House press briefing while acknowledging that she was not fully prepared and may have been better off stepping aside instead of taking questions.
The new White House press secretary faced harsh criticism after her first appearance before reporters in Washington.
During an appearance on Fox News Thursday night, Zacharia said the week had unfolded at extraordinary speed. She had interviewed for the position only the previous Wednesday and had been in the job for just one day when she faced the press.
“I had been on the job for one day and instead of taking questions, probably should’ve stepped aside,” she told Sean Hannity. Still, she added that she believed she had done “my very best to deliver for the American people.”
Zacharia said she might have been better served by offering the press corps “a brief intro” rather than holding a full question-and-answer session after only “eight hours” in the role.
She did not blame her staff for the difficult first briefing.
“Given I’d been on the job for 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,” she said.
Asked whether she would handle the event differently, Zacharia promised to arrive better prepared in the future.
Katie Zacharia defended her first White House press briefing but acknowledged she was underprepared and may have been better off stepping aside rather than taking questions.
The new White House press secretary faced harsh reviews after her first appearance before the Washington press corps.
“What I would say is I would absolutely be very well prepared on the briefing, Sean,” she said. “I do love questions, and I would love to build a relationship with all those members of the press corps so there is a substantive component to us having an ability to interact. I will be very prepared, Sean, and I will step up to the duty that President Trump has asked me to do as press secretary.”
Zacharia also pointed to one piece of news she delivered during the briefing: the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle. She said she was “one of the first press secretaries to deliver staff changes.”
She likewise continued defending her decision to describe herself as a “lawyer” after acknowledging that she had never passed the bar exam and had failed on her first attempt.
“For background, I graduated Pepperdine, got married in the same week, we had all intent to move out to China,” she explained, offering context for why she did not retake the exam.
“I had already pre-registered for the bar exam. Basically, during the summer I had learned I was moving to China, so the results would be inconsequential.”
She confirmed that she never sat for the bar exam a second time.
It was a rocky debut for the 42-year-old Zacharia, who stumbled over her words and ended the briefing after 15 minutes instead of the usual hour. Daily Mail reporter Elina Shirazi did manage to ask one question, confirming the fate of embattled Greek ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Among those weighing in on Zacharia’s performance was former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who was famously dismissed by the president after just 11 days in the administration.
Speaking to Fox News Thursday night, Zacharia said the week had been a whirlwind after she interviewed for the position the previous Wednesday and began the job just one day before the briefing.
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Officially, the White House press shop is calling the performance ‘commanding.’
‘Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team,’ White House spokesperson Steven Cheung told Our News Outlet when reached for comment.
‘She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his Administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as Press Secretary.’
Trump himself, asked by reporters later in the day, offered a six-word verdict: ‘I thought she was very good.’
By early Tuesday afternoon, Zacharia was aboard Air Force One, bound for Alaska on her first official trip with the president.
Zacharia’s path to the podium was as abrupt as her exit from it.
Trump plucked her off television after months of watching her defend him on Fox News and Newsmax, making the offer himself in an out-of-the-blue phone call.
Three days later, her hiring was announced on Truth Social without running it past Wiles.
Zacharia started in politics as a college intern for the Republican National Committee.
She earned her undergraduate degree at Pepperdine’s Seaver College before going on to its Caruso School of Law, then launched a career in corporate and political advocacy.
Her experience also includes working in the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Bush administration and spending three years in China working as an outside counsel for the World Bank.
Her husband Tyler served as a producer on movies like The Irishman, Countdown, The Starling, The Desperate Hour and Homestead, among others.
While Zacharia often flaunts her glamorous endeavors on her Instagram, where she has racked up more than 42,000 followers, she is fiercely private when it comes to her family life and has kept her kids completely off social media.
In addition, she has been outspoken about the backlash she has faced in the past for supporting Trump.
‘Being in the world of politics, whether directly or adjacent, is BRUTAL and I personally take DAILY heat for it,’ Zacharia wrote in an Instagram post in September.
She went on to explain that she tries to ‘keep her family away from the flame,’ but gushed over how ‘proud’ she was of her husband’s work.
