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Laura Loomer eyes White House press secretary role after Katie Zacharia's exit
Conservative commentator Laura Loomer has put herself forward for the White House press secretary job, hours after Katie Zacharia left the role.
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Right after Katie Zacharia left the White House press secretary job, conservative commentator Laura Loomer put herself forward for the role.
Loomer, who is also a part-time adviser to President Donald Trump, posted about it on X within hours of the news of Zacharia’s departure.
Loomer’s posts on X
Loomer posted on Friday: “Hear me out: Press Secretary Laura Loomer.”
She also wrote: “I would be an amazing Press Secretary. I’d show President Trump all the receipts. I would bring my binder full of receipts to every briefing.”
In another post, she wrote: “So you’re saying if I dye my hair blonde and I change my name to Kora I have a chance?”
Also read: One briefing, scrutiny over bar qualification preceded Katie Zacharia's swift White House exit
Zacharia’s short stay
The briefing-room podium is empty again after Zacharia left the job following just five days as press secretary.
A White House official told Newsweek on Friday that Zacharia was “transitioning” out of the role. CNN, citing advisers to the president, reported that Trump had fired her.
Trump announced her appointment on October 9. He praised her as a longtime supporter with an “unblemished record of support.” He also said she would “work fantastically with the Media, the American People, and my Administration.”
Zacharia took over from Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down at the end of August after the birth of her second child.
Also read: Ex-Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling gets 10-year sentence in infant son's death
What Trump said
Trump spoke to reporters on Friday and said he had asked Zacharia to reconsider, according to Newsweek.
“I just asked her, ‘Is this for you?’” Trump said. “And she’s a nice person. I’m going to let her make that decision.”
Trump also said the media had treated her “very, very unfairly” and that she was being “brutalized by the media.”
“I told her, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider,’” Trump said. “Maybe it’s not for her.”
Questions about her debut and background
Zacharia’s first briefing on Tuesday lasted about 14 minutes, with questions from only three outlets. It was criticized for being short, for her delivery and for her use of prepared remarks.
Communications Director Steven Cheung first defended her, telling Newsweek she was “uniquely qualified and whip smart.”
Then her legal background came under scrutiny after Trump called her an attorney. She graduated from Pepperdine University’s law school in 2011 but did not pass the California bar exam. Zacharia told Sean Hannity on Thursday that she took the exam once and did not pass. She said the result was “inconsequential” because she knew she would be moving to China.
Who could be next?
Many of the names being talked about now were also mentioned when the White House was looking for a replacement for Karoline Leavitt.
CNN reported at that time that Scott Jennings had emerged as an early favorite.
Anna Kelly, the White House principal deputy press secretary, was also talked about a lot as a possible pick. Other names that came up were White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and conservative author and model Elizabeth Pipko, as per Newsweek.
