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Katie Zacharia fired after five days as White House press secretary

theguardian.com · Ariana Baio · last updated

Katie Zacharia was fired as the White House press secretary on Friday, just five days after she assumed the role, according to a White House official not authorized to speak publicly.

Zacharia had a rocky start to her tenure as press secretary, hosting a widely panned first briefing on Tuesday. She had also faced questions over her legal credentials after admitting she did not pass the bar exam.

The Guardian has asked the White House for comment. The New York Times reported Zacharia had been fired. Fox News reported she was “transitioning out” of the role.

Zacharia, who spent much of her career as a conservative political commentator and in communication roles, was offered the White House press secretary role on 9 October.

She detailed the whirlwind sprint to her new role in an interview with the Guardian on Thursday.

Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press

State of Play

Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.

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