The 5-Day Press Secretary: Inside the Abrupt Ouster of Katie Zacharia

So in an unprecedented, like I said, twist in White House history, the tenure of the newest press secretary has abruptly ended just five days after it began.

Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator and former communications advisor, for truth social was announced as the next white house press secretary last friday it was october 9th i believe by president donald trump zachariah a 41 year old mother of four who earned her undergraduate and law degrees at pepperdine university succeeded caroline levin however her time at the podium was marked by immediate turbulence to say the least Her debut press briefing last Tuesday lasted only five and a half minutes.

And according to reporters in the room, she read nervously from a script for about eight minutes.

And she only called on three outlets, Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail.

And she struggled to answer a predictable question regarding U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

And she had to tell the reporter, I'll get back to you on that.

And during this brief session, she also made an awkward slip up by confusing her husband with President Donald Trump.

and abruptly announced the resignation of U.S.

Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, before exiting the room pretty quickly without taking any further questions.

So the situation quickly spiraled as intense scrutiny fell on Zachariah's legal credentials as well.

So in his initial announcement, President Trump referred to Zachariah as an attorney, and she had previously identified herself as general counsel for a nonprofit.

However, when pressed by reporter on the south lawn about which state bar exam she had passed, Zachariah responded when I moved to China, She responded by saying, when I moved to China.

That's what she said in response.

And it was later revealed that while she graduated from law school, she sat for the California bar exam, but she did not pass.

And no record of a law license could be found in any U.S. state where she has lived.

And legal experts quickly pointed out that serving as general counsel applies practicing law, which requires a license.

A watchdog group subsequently filed a complaint with the State Bar of California calling for an investigation into whether she unlawfully presented herself as an attorney.

Zachariah defended herself telling the New York Times that she misheard the question over the noise of Marine One, assuming she was being asked where she lived after law school.

So that makes sense why she said, when I lived in China, because I'm like, why did she say that? But anyway, she probably was still stalling.

And she clarified that while she worked at Zonglu Law Firm in China, her role involved advising international transaction as foreign nationals cannot practice Chinese law.

She also noted that she had consulted her university president on how to title herself for television appearances, may advise to use lawyer rather than attorney or Esquire.

Despite efforts from White House Communications Director Stephen Chung to defend her, stating that everyone has been thoroughly impressed with Katie in just a short few days, the unrelenting media coverage and shaky television appearances after the press briefing definitely forced the administration's hand.

And on Friday, just a few days ago, it was announced that President Trump encouraged her to reconsider her role, which effectively fired her.

So Zachariah's five-day tenure shatters the previous record for the shortest White House communications thing, famously helped by Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted 10 days as communications director during Trump's first term.

The Southern departure capped off a week of intense inner circle turmoil at the White House, leaving the critical role of press secretary vacant once again ahead of a challenging midterm season for the Republican Party.