Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says she remains “ruthlessly loyal” to Donald Trump, despite the president publicly saying she had “freaked out” during her brief stint in his administration.
Zacharia, 41, spent only five days in the role before Trump dismissed her last week following a series of verbal missteps and visibly tense appearances.
Trump revisited Zacharia’s troubled tenure during a Florida rally on Friday, referring to her as a “poor young woman.” Yet after the event, Zacharia continued to speak warmly about the president.
“No wonder that poor young woman — she was a perfect, beautiful woman — when she walked into that press room and they started screaming at her, she freaked out,” Trump said.
Speaking to Newsweek, Zacharia nevertheless said: “It was an honor to work for President Trump, and no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than him.”
She added that “the best is yet to come,” describing her short time in the Trump administration as a period of working “around the clock” ahead of the midterm elections.
“As Rudyard Kipling wrote, ‘If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch.’ After a week with him on the midterm blitz, I saw that in action,” Zacharia said.
“Working around the clock with world leaders — bringing hostages home and brokering peace — while speaking to crowds of Americans to win the midterms and deliver for the people.
“No one has carried the water for the Republican Party and America First like he has for over a decade, all without losing the common touch.”
Former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia says she remains “ruthlessly loyal” to Donald Trump, even after the president mocked her for “freaking out” during her brief time in his administration
Zacharia, 41, held the job for just five days before a string of gaffes and nervous performances prompted Trump to fire her last week
Zacharia’s continued praise for Trump comes after her abrupt departure made her the shortest-serving White House press secretary in the institution’s history.
Trump initially stood up for Zacharia after her difficult start, accusing the media of unfairly targeting her and dismissing questions about her background as unimportant.
The president later said he had asked Zacharia, “Is this for you?” He suggested he might have made a different choice in her position, telling her: “You don’t need this.”
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Following Zacharia’s exit, her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, offered a stark evaluation of her performance, saying the demanding position “obviously wasn’t for her.”
“Look, the White House press secretary is a tough job,” Leavitt told Fox News.
“I know that because I did it, obviously, for almost two years, and many people say it’s one of the hardest jobs in politics. It takes a lot of preparation, and sometimes you don’t know how someone will perform until they go out there.”
Leavitt appeared to suggest that Zacharia had not been sufficiently prepared for the high-profile role, recalling how intensely she had prepared before taking the job herself.
“I poured myself into my preparation. I read, I studied, I talked to every Cabinet member, I talked to the president. I just absorbed as much information as this noggin up here could,” Leavitt said.
Zacharia said she continues to support the president because “no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than him”
Zacharia became the shortest-serving press secretary in White House history
Zacharia also faced questions over her legal credentials after it was brought to light that she had failed the California bar exam in 2011.
She then moved to Beijing with her husband and worked at a Chinese law firm.
Despite never passing the bar exam, Zacharia frequently appeared on news channels as a legal analyst, offering commentary on legal and political issues while identifying herself as a lawyer.
Zacharia’s rocky debut was followed by an uncomfortable appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on October 15, just hours before she was pushed out of the job the following day.
Hannity delivered a notably tough grilling, confronting her over her widely criticized briefing, pressing her on why she had repeatedly described herself as a lawyer despite failing the California bar exam.
He challenged her explanation for the short briefing, asking: ‘Why only three questions in 14 minutes?’ before warning her that the White House briefing room would ‘never be a friendly room to you.’
Zacharia defended herself by blaming the whirlwind hiring process and lack of preparation time, but the combative interview added to the scrutiny surrounding her brief tenure.