If one thing drew a lot of pushback after the Katie Zacharia fallout, it was the claim that Fox News helped usher in her demise as White House Press Secretary. Zacharia barely lasted a week; after five days, the Trump White House told her she would no longer hold that top role, beating Anthony Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure. A Politico story suggested that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles may have orchestrated the damning Sean Hannity interview, where Zacharia was grilled over her resume.
The truth is, Zacharia did herself in with this waffling line about her law background, claiming to be a lawyer or practicing attorney when she wasn't. She does have a law degree but didn’t pass the bar. It was a simple correction, which she made worse by saying she passed the bar in China or something. Either way, it was an unacceptable answer. She also knew this would be a line of questioning on Hannity and Fox and Friends, and she fumbled twice. Her last day was October 16.
We posted a statement from the network, which denied any Trump officials having a say in their booking process:
Sean Hannity decides who he interviews and what he asks his guests, period. That’s been true for three decades, through several administrations, and that authenticity is why he’s been number one for nearly 30 years. Susie Wiles and Danielle Alvarez had nothing to do with the booking.
Now, it seems Wiles tried to offer Zacharia words of support after a shambolic first press conference that lasted less than 15 minutes. It’s not disqualifying, though it’s not good. You have very little time to get a handle on the role, but the ongoing circus regarding her resume and her apparently being less than truthful about it to secure this top position is disconcerting and grounds for termination or being phased out of the position, if we want to be delicate about it (via Politico):
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White House chief of staff Susie Wiles “offered positive reinforcement” for Katie Zacharia to appear on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last week, according to a senior White House official.
The White House official said Wiles had no direct role in booking the Hannity interview. White House officials and other Wiles allies flatly denied that the chief of staff had intentionally set up Zacharia for humiliation on Fox News.
Zacharia’s contentious interview with Hannity, typically a loyal advocate for the Trump administration and its top officials, helped knock her out of the press secretary role less than a week after she took the job.
On Friday, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, in a statement, dismissed as “breathless speculation” any claim that Wiles helped facilitate the TV appearance, and after the article was originally published, the White House sent a letter to POLITICO on Monday describing the article as “false.”
White House spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Wednesday: “The facts are indisputable: the Chief of Staff had absolutely nothing to do with booking or authorizing any interview. Politico’s reckless disregard for the truth is a disgrace to journalism. At this point, the question isn’t whether Politico got the facts wrong — it’s why its editors continue to publish claims they know are false. Politico should be embarrassed.”
Zacharia was reportedly in an interview with The Wall Street Journal when Jason Miller called her away. She never returned to that job afterward. Trump later said that while the press was mistreating Zacharia, she should seriously consider stepping away from the press secretary role, a kiss of death.
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