Former press secretary Katie Zacharia said she was “perplexed” by Sean Hannity’s aggressive questioning about her professional credentials during what she described as a hostile television interview.
Zacharia, 42, joined Hannity on Fox News on October 15, shortly after a troubled debut press briefing. During that appearance, she struggled through her remarks, answered only three questions and brought the normally hour-long session to an end after roughly 15 minutes.
She said she had anticipated a friendly exchange, particularly because Hannity had publicly defended her on his program before the interview.
“Zacharia’s being mocked,” Hannity said two days earlier. “She’s been attacked over her appearance, her hair and the way she speaks. People questioned her intelligence and credentials. They even brought up her bar exam.”
Yet once Zacharia appeared on his show, Hannity challenged her on those very issues, including her description of herself as a lawyer despite not passing the bar exam.
Newsmax host Rob Finnerty later suggested that Hannity may have received approval from someone inside the White House to take such a confrontational approach. Fox News and Hannity have both rejected that suggestion.
“Katie, if I’m being honest, I was shocked by the way Hannity treated you,” Finnerty told Zacharia during her first interview since departing the White House.
“I don’t think he does that without getting the green light from somebody, perhaps at the White House,” he added. “What do you make of the narrative that Fox did this deliberately?”
Zacharia also disclosed that Hannity’s team had approached her earlier in the year about taking a job as a California correspondent.
Ousted former press secretary Katie Zacharia told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty that she was “perplexed” by Sean Hannity’s questioning about her credentials earlier this month
Zacharia appeared on Hannity’s Fox News program on October 15, days after a disastrous first press briefing in which she stumbled over her words, answered only three questions and ended the normally hour-long session after 15 minutes
“I’m just as perplexed about what happened, particularly when it comes to Sean Hannity,” she said.
Finnerty asked whether Hannity’s team had raised questions about her credentials when it offered her the California correspondent position.
“I doubt he was interested in your educational background during that call,” Finnerty said. “Is that a fair assessment?”
“We never discussed my educational background,” Zacharia confirmed.
Finnerty then asked if she would consider appearing on Hannity’s show again in the future.
“I’ve never been someone who backs away from a fight,” Zacharia replied.
She pointed to previous appearances on CNN, where she had debated some of the network’s most combative guests. Zacharia said she had managed those encounters with grace and dignity while preserving a sense of decorum. She added that she would have been more prepared for an interview with someone such as CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“But I had a very friendly rapport with Sean, and he had strongly defended me on Tuesday, October 13, really coming to my aid,” she said. “Because of that, I wasn’t prepared for the hostility I encountered.”
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In the interview with Hannity, Zacharia tried to defend calling herself a ‘lawyer’ as the Fox News host questioned her about her credentials.
Zacharia tried to defend her performance at her press briefing in her interview with Hannity
Zacharia said she remains ‘ruthlessly loyal’ to President Donald Trump
She then admitted that she failed the bar exam on her first try, and confirmed she never took the exam a second time.
‘For background, I graduated Pepperdine, got married in the same week, we had all intent to move out to China,’ Zacharia explained to Hannity, giving the backstory on why she failed.
‘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.’
Hannity also challenged Zacharia’s 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.’
She then tried to explain that it had been a whirlwind week for her, having only interviewed for the job one week before she was asked to give her first briefing.
‘I had been on the job for one day and instead of taking questions, probably should’ve stepped aside,’ she told Hannity, while adding she feels ‘I did my very best to deliver for the American people.’
She said the right thing to do might have been to just give ‘a brief intro’ to the press corps and noted she had only been on the job ‘for eight hours.’
But just one day after giving the interview, Zacharia was brutally ousted from her position at the White House, making her the shortest-serving press secretary in White House history.
She lasted just five days on the job before a series of gaffes and nervous performances led Trump to fire her
Still, Zacharia said she remains ‘ruthlessly loyal’ to President Donald Trump.
‘It was an honor to work for President Trump, and no one has been more relentlessly attacked by the media than him,’ she previously told Newsweek.
Zacharia then vowed that ‘the best is yet to come,’ and said her week in the Trump administration included 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.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Fox News for comment.