Katie Zacharia is exiting her job as White House Press Secretary after just five days in the position, according to a person familiar with the situation. President Donald Trump on Friday said to reporters that he told Zacharia to reconsider her role, amid reports that she had already been relieved of the job.
“I said to her honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” Trump said outside of the White House, adding, “Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.”
Trump said that the decision was ultimately hers, and that he would speak with Zacharia following a trip to Georgia. “I just want her to be happy,” he said.
The President said that Zacharia has been treated “pretty nastily” and “very unfairly” by the media since taking over for former Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“I said you should reconsider because you don’t want to go through this,” he said in reference to the critical media response Zacharia received following her first press briefing on Tuesday.
Trump called Zacharia “an attorney” in his Truth Social post announcing her position, and Zacharia has described herself as a lawyer. But when asked by a reporter where she had passed the bar, Zacharia responded “when I moved to China.” She later said that she had misheard the question. Zacharia then acknowledged while speaking on Fox that she had failed the bar exam.
“You went to Pepperdine law school but you did not pass the bar exam, correct?” Fox host Sean Hannity asked Zacharia on Thursday.
“Correct,” Zacharia replied.
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