J.A.U.S. Just Another Unqualified Shit

Katie Zacharia faces sharp questions from Fox News hosts about rocky start

Fresh off a shaky introduction in front of the press corps, the former conservative commentator was grilled by a roster of the top talent at Fox News.

By Gregory Svirnovskiy

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia faced a grilling from Fox News hosts on two of the channel's most-viewed programs, as she battles questions about a rocky start to her tenure behind the podium.

On his primetime show Thursday evening, Sean Hannity pressed Zacharia on why she hasn’t been more upfront about her legal qualifications. And “Fox & Friends” host Lawrence Jones followed up Friday morning, asking her pointedly if she still wields the confidence of the president.

The questions came on two shows that are not only among the highest-rated on cable news but also ones that often have the ear of President Donald Trump, who is known to watch the conservative network generally and those two programs specifically.

Zacharia’s first press briefing before reporters lasted just 14 minutes and saw her take only three questions. Critics panned the performance, casting Zacharia as awkward and unprepared. Reporting also surfaced this week that Zacharia, a graduate of Pepperdine University’s law school, had never passed the bar exam, though she’d long called herself a lawyer on TV.

On the Fox News shows, Zacharia defended her rocky start behind the lectern and vowed to remain in the post.

“Given the fact that I’d been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day,” she told Hannity on Thursday.

It prompted a probing response from the veteran Fox News host, who asked Zacharia, “Am I hearing that you think the staff should have prepped you better?”

The press secretary has worked furiously to win over critics following her appointment in recent days, speaking with reporters from The New York Times, appearing on Jack Posobiec’s Real America’s Voice show for a live interview and spending time on Fox News, where she had appeared as a guest before joining the White House.

My “philosophy is that I will talk to any reporter and I will engage with any network and/or reporter in good faith to amplify what President Trump and his administration have done for the American people,” she said in a Thursday interview with POLITICO. “The network is inconsequential to me. ... It’s the reporter and the desire to get the story right and accurate.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has defended her in the role. “A tremendous start for the new White House [press secretary],” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted to X shortly after she wrapped up her first briefing. “She commanded the room and effectively reminded the American people of all the great work President Trump and his Administration has done thus far.”

Fox News did not immediately provide a comment for this story.

On “Fox & Friends” Friday, Zacharia insisted she still had the confidence of the president. She also traveled with Trump to rallies in Alaska, Arizona and Montana.

“I'm standing here and I was able to travel with him through … the midterm rallies and I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me,” she said.

And she pushed back against claims that she should have informed the White House about her legal qualifications during the hiring process.

“Those questions weren't asked,” she said. “I'm being hired as White House press secretary, not White House counsel. The conversations and the reason I was — the reason that I was hired was to represent the president in the press.”

It was Hannity who took the time to offer several words of wisdom about the briefing room for Zacharia at the end of their segment Thursday.

“I can give you some unsolicited advice,” he said. “That’s never going to be a friendly room to you.”