Katie Zacharia, political commentator turned White House Press Secretary, has been let go of her role in the Donald Trump administration on Friday, the New York Times reported.
The NYT cited five people familiar with the matter to report that Zacharia has been let go from her White House role effective immediately. The report came moments after Trump said before boarding Air Force One Friday that he had asked Zacharia to “reconsider” if she wants to continue as the White House Press Secretary.
"Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider," Trump said she told Zacharia, noting that Zacharia has been "treated very badly."
"Katie has been treated very badly by the media," Trump said. "Very very badly. Very unfair. I just asked her, is this for you? And she's a nice person. I'm going to let her make that decision. Sean Hannity was a little bit tough. Katie is off to a start that, the news has been so nasty to her.
“I told her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider.' Maybe it's not for her.”
{{/usCountry}}“I told her, 'Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider.' Maybe it's not for her.”
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Departure Amid Bar Exam Row
Zacharia became the White House Press Secretary on October 10. In her six days in office, she has faced intense media scrutiny over her bar credentials.
Her comments came as reports noted following her appointment that Zacharia was not registered as an attorney in New York, the District of Columbia, California, Texas and Florida. Other reports claimed that, in fact, she has never been registered to practice law anywhere in the US.
She then admitted in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity that she never passed the bar exam despite claiming on Tuesday that she did who after "moving to China."
Zacharia's departure makes her the shortest-serving White House Press Secretary after Anthony Scaramucci, who served only 11 days as the White House Director of Communications in the previous Trump administration.
Zacharia's credentials to practise law in the United States were questioned after she described herself as a law-practitioner before entering politics. Trump, announcing her nomination to the role, referred to her as an "attorney".
Records show that Zacharia earned her law degree from the Pepperdine University in 2011. But never qualifying for the bar license meant she never got to be an attorney in person.