US President Donald Trump has said that he told White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia to reconsider her job, days after her first media briefing.
“I said to her honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for Georgia rally.
“You got a beautiful husband and family. I met the family yesterday. Beautiful kids. It’s like from a picture postcard,” he said.
Trump said Zacharia had been “treated very badly by the media, very, very badly, very unfairly.” He added: “The news has been so nasty ... I’ve never seen anything like it actually.”
“I said, ‘Katie, you know, you don’t have to do this,’” he said. “I don’t think they’ll ever ease up.”
“Look, she has suffered over the last few days ... Maybe it’s not for her,” Trump said. “I just want her to be happy ... I’ll do whatever she wants.”
Zacharia was appointed press secretary earlier this month, succeeding Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down in late August.
Her first briefing at the White House podium on Tuesday lasted only around 15 minutes. She fielded questions from only three outlets before ending the briefing.
Scrutiny over credentials
Trump announced the appointment of conservative commentator Zacharia as his new White House press secretary on October 8, praising her as a loyal supporter.
"She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform last Friday.
"She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA!" he added, referring to his Make America Great Again movement.
Zacharia, a communications adviser to Trump's media company, succeeded Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down in August after becoming one of the most prominent public faces of his second administration.
Zacharia acknowledged on Thursday that she had not passed the bar exam, amid scrutiny over her legal credentials after she described herself as a lawyer and Trump called her “an attorney”.
When a Fox News host asked whether she had attended Pepperdine Law School but failed to pass the exam, Zacharia replied, “Correct,” and said she had not retaken it.
