SAY WHAT?

Trump Press Sec Katie Zacharia Makes Bonkers Media Demand

The comments marked a conspicuous change in approach to Zacharia’s predecessor, Karoline Leavitt.

Katie Zacharia’s job is to answer questions from the media, but when Donald Trump’s embattled new press secretary came face to face with the White House press corps on Friday, she refused to take any.

Zacharia had just finished a live TV hit with Fox & Friends at “Pebble Beach”—the raised platform on the North Lawn where TV correspondents and camera crews set up for live broadcasts and stand-up reports.

But the location is awkward for a press secretary trying to dodge reporters, because to get back to her office in the West Wing, Zacharia had to pass journalists waiting to ask questions she didn’t want to answer.

As one reporter began to speak, Zacharia cut them off.

“I’m not taking any questions,” she said, before promising to work with the press corps.

“But I want to let you know I’m looking forward to working with all of you so much. Please get my number, reach out to me, call me, text me, email me. I would love to work with all of you, and I’m so excited to be working with President Trump and on behalf of the American people.”

As reporters tried again, she repeated: “I’m not taking any questions today.”

The comments marked a conspicuous shift from Zacharia’s predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, who was generally happy to stop and take questions from reporters after television appearances, even when the questions were difficult.

The awkward encounter also followed a disastrous appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Thursday night, where the conservative host challenged the 41-year-old over her disastrous first briefing and her legal credentials.

There were “questions about your legal background calling yourself a lawyer,” the Trump ally told her. “You went to Pepperdine Law School, but you did not pass the bar exam, correct?”

Zacharia, smiling, replied, “Correct.”

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He then asked how she thought her briefing debut went on Tuesday, a performance, he reminded her, that had been “widely panned.”

“So, what I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time. I received briefing materials in the morning,” the mother of four replied.

The tough interview was striking, given Hannity’s status as one of Trump’s most prominent media allies, prompting speculation that figures inside the administration may have coordinated a hit job.

Zacharia had already spent Thursday defending herself in an interview with right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec, a prominent promoter of the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

On Friday morning, she returned to Fox & Friends to try to steady the ship with the three co-hosts, Brian Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones, and Hannity’s girlfriend, Ainsley Earhardt.

Asked again why she failed to disclose to the Trump administration that she wasn’t really a lawyer, Zacharia offered a surprising response.

“Yeah. Well, Lawrence, those questions weren’t asked,” she said.

Meanwhile, questions remain over whether she has the support of the White House communications operation she is supposed to lead.

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Some critics have even pointed out that Zacharia also hasn’t moved into Leavitt’s old office, the largest staff office in the West Wing, traditionally occupied by press secretaries.

That office is now occupied by Communications Director Steven Cheung, who moved in after Leavitt left the White House last August, with Zacharia now occupying a smaller office in the upper press area.

“It’s not quite a broom closet but it speaks volumes into how they are treating this job and how serious they are taking her appointment,” said Patrick Riccards, a former Senate deputy press secretary and communications strategist who advised the Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations.

Other members of the White House press team, including Olivia Wales, Taylor Rogers and Allison Schuster, have increasingly been seen doing television appearances themselves. Whether that reflects routine division of labor or an effort to provide backup as Zacharia struggles remains unclear.

“I really fear that she’s being used to essentially serve as the flak jacket for everything that’s going to happen between now and the election,” Riccards told the Daily Beast, predicting that “she will be the sacrificial lamb” if the Republicans don’t win next month’s midterm elections.

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The White House, however, is publicly backing the new press secretary, with Cheung saying in a statement to the Daily Beast: “Katie is a fabulous and wonderful addition to the team.

“She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his Administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as Press Secretary,” he added.

Trump also backed his latest hire this week, albeit in a brief six-word sentence devoid of the effusive praise he often gave to Leavitt.

“I thought she was very good,” he said.

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Farrah TomazinPolitical Correspondent

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