Kathrine Frich
President Donald Trump’s staff have already begun mocking her.
Starting a high-profile job in front of television cameras is never easy.
Most new hires can count on their coworkers for a little quiet support during a rocky debut. In Washington, however, the sharpest criticism often comes from inside the same building.
Brutal private texts
New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia is already facing internal backlash after her first televised briefing on Tuesday. According to the Irish Star, citing an unsourced report from the Daily Mail, private text messages among President Donald Trump’s staff began mocking her debut almost immediately after she left the podium.
One person, identified by the Daily Mail as a “senior Trump administration official,” sent a blunt assessment of the short appearance. “She should have gone on longer and had substantive answers ready… She could barely read,” the message stated.
The pile-on did not stop there. According to the Daily Mail, another senior communications staffer called the debut “terrible on so many different levels,” while a separate message branded it “embarrassing.” One sender claimed to feel “badly for her… her kids and family watching,” and a Republican communications figure reportedly summed up the briefing with a single dumpster-fire emoji.
Defending her debut
By midweek, Zacharia went on conservative media outlets to explain what happened behind the scenes, the Irish Star reported.
Speaking to Human Events, she said she woke up at 3 a.m. on Tuesday after receiving her briefing papers the night before, and her final notes were only finished at 8 a.m., less than two hours before the cameras rolled.
She told Human Events that she kept the session brief on purpose because Trump planned to answer reporters’ questions himself while walking to Marine One later that morning. Even so, she admitted to Sean Hannity on Fox News that she probably should have just introduced herself and saved the questions until she was better prepared.
Questions over credentials
Beyond the podium stumble, the new spokesperson also had to address questions about calling herself a “lawyer,” according to the Irish Star.
She explained that she failed the California bar exam during a busy chapter of her life when she had just gotten married and was packing to move to China with her husband.
Because she did not need bar membership abroad, she viewed the result as minor, adding that legal experts advised her on how to use the title and that she will not handle legal matters at the White House.
Zacharia stepped in after Karoline Leavitt announced her departure to focus on her family. Rather than lobbying privately for the open role, the former Truth Social communications adviser told outlets she treated television appearances as an informal “audition” by tracking Trump’s online posts and discussing his favorite topics on air.
According to the Irish Star, Trump phoned her on October 7 before a family trip to a pumpkin patch, and she flew out from California the next day to seal the deal on Friday.
