[UPDATE] Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after five days, with no replacement named
Hours earlier, Trump told reporters he'd urged her to "reconsider" and would "let her make that decision."
Zacharia left Friday, Oct. 16, less than three weeks before the midterms, after holding one 14-minute briefing. The Guardian and The New York Times call it a firing; Trump denied firing her, per Fox News. NBC reports that a replacement is not likely soon.
PREVIOUSLY
- Oct. 9 — Trump named Truth Social adviser Katie Zacharia to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left in late August.
- Oct. 13 — CNN surfaced her conspiracy-laced posts; her first briefing ran 14 minutes and took questions from three outlets.
- Oct. 16 — Reports showed she failed the 2011 California bar yet called herself a lawyer for years; Trump had introduced her as "an attorney."
By the numbers:
- Tenure: 5 days per NBC, The Hill, TIME, The Guardian and The New York Times; Fox News counts 7.
- For comparison, Anthony Scaramucci lasted 11 days as Trump's communications director in 2017.