Why Trump’s latest White House press secretary lasted just five days

Katie Zacharia is the shortest-serving White House press secretary after a rocky tenure, but she’s not the first to go. Save Share United States President Donald Trump’s latest press secretary has been let go after just five days on the job, following a widely criticised first – and only – White House news conference and amid scrutiny of her credentials. Trump told reporters on Friday that he believed the press had been harsh towards his new top spokesperson, Katie Zacharia, but that he had advised her to “reconsider” the role. Shortly after, Al Jazeera and other media confirmed that Zacharia would be “transitioning out” of the position. That made her the shortest-serving press secretary in US history – even shorter than the tenure of Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House communications director who was fired after 10 days on the job during Trump’s first term in office in 2017. His sacking gave rise to the term “one Scaramucci” – or “a Mooch” – which journalists and White House observers use jokingly as a measure of time to predict how long Trump officials would last in their jobs. Now, a new unit of time – “one Zacharia” – is only half as long. Recalling his own White House stint this week, Scaramucci wrote on X: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.” Here’s what we know about Zacharia’s brief tenure: The White House has not given an official reason for Zacharia’s departure, but it came amid mounting concerns about her competency and professional background. During her first and only news conference on Tuesday, Zacharia appeared uneasy at the podium and struggled at times to get through her sentences. She fumbled her words while looking down at her notes, once confused the words “husband” and “president” and ended the briefing after 14 minutes, taking only three questions from reporters. Scrutiny intensified after it emerged that Zacharia, who has a law degree and described herself as “an attorney”, had studied law at university butnever passed the bar examrequired to practice law in the US. She later claimed she had worked as a lawyer in China. Conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Zacharia during an awkward interview on Thursday: “Why didn’t you just say: ‘I never practised law’?” Following news of her departure, Zacharia wrote on X that it had been “an honour” to work for Trump, calling him a “kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man”....