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Katie Zacharia issues warning to people wanting to dress up as her this Halloween
Katie Zacharia has issued a warning to people wanting to dress up as her this Halloween.
The political commentator was brought in to replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary, but she was out of the job by October 16 after a shaky debut press debut that lasted less than 15 minutes and was widely mocked.
She opened the briefing by telling reporters she was "so honored" to be working for President Trump and noted that she’d "wanted to work for him for a very long time".
However, things took an uncomfortable turn when she struggled to read from a sheet of notes, answer questions from reporters, and even, at one point, confused her husband with Trump.
Zacharia lasted five days as press secretary
The 80-year-old hinted at Zacharia's exit on October 16 during a news conference in front of the Marine One helicopter.
"I said to Katie just two minutes ago, I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do this... the news has been so nasty to her. I've never seen anything like it. And I said, I said to her honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider," he told reporters.
"You think about it, but I wouldn't reconsider. She's got a beautiful husband and family ... maybe it's not for her," he added.
Hours later, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung announced that Zacharia was leaving her post and would be "transitioning into a new role that will be announced at a later date."
Zacharia breaks silence on White House exit
On Tuesday (October 27), Zacharia gave her first television interview to Newsmax's Rob Finnerty about her controversial departure.
During the interview, Finnerty said many people are planning to dress up as her for Halloween and asked what her message was to them.
"I hope you do dress up as me because it's absolutely hilarious. We will be dressing up as a family. I will wear the OG costume and stay tuned to what my kids will be," she shared.
The former press secretary is married to Tyler Zacharia, a former investment banker, film producer, and executive, and together they have four children.
She had previously expressed frustration on her Instagram Story that the Spirit of Halloween store she visited didn’t have any costumes of her.
"Very disappointed that they don't have 'former press secretary,' 'Chinese lawyer,' out. Guess I'm gonna have to wear the OG outfit on Halloween," she said, as cited by Irish Mirror.
Zacharia also posted a meme that showed a costume labeled "Chinese lawyer" with her photo and mocked her previous role as an "associate" at a Chinese law firm.
According to reports, the mom of four relocated to Beijing after her graduation from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. She worked at Zhong Lun Law Firm from August 2011 to June 2013.
Zacharia blames the media for firing
Zacharia told Finnerty in her Newsmax interview that the "media and all of Washington" made it very hard for her to do her job.
"Listen, the media does not like outsiders, and Washington, D.C., does not like outsiders," she said. "(My job) is to amplify the wins and historic record-setting precedent that President Trump has set, especially ahead of the most consequential midterms."
"They would not let me do my job, which was to focus on him and focus on what he's doing to win. And it became too amassed over me," she added.
She also said it was "very likely" she would still have her job if she had not appeared on Hannity with Sean Hannity and Fox & Friends shortly before she was released from her role.
"I would hope so. And I likely think I would be, Rob," she told the interviewer, who asked her whether she would have kept her job if it weren't for those appearances. "But I can't know what would have happened otherwise, though it would be very likely."
Hannity has not responded to Zacharia, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, he previously said his audience "knows exactly where I stand, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to ask tough questions when they’re warranted."
"I gave her the opportunity to tell her side of the story and let the audience judge for themselves. I assumed she would take advantage of the opportunity and put all of this to rest before the next briefing," he told the outlet.
"I’ve been doing this long enough to know that people will have strong reactions. My job is to ask the questions, get answers and let the audience decide for themselves. I allowed her a lot of time uninterrupted for her to answer."