Move over Scaramucci, there was a new sheriff in town

By Robbie Brown

In today’s episode of What in the White House, Shockwaves were once again sent through American politics as President Donald Trump announced that he was firing his press secretary, Katie Zacharia, after just 5 days on the job, making it the shortest tenure of a White House press secretary in history. While this might not be seen as important in comparison to the sacking of a career politician, Zacharias blink of a tenure represents an administration run on the whims of a president who seems to not care about the results of the upcoming midterms.

Katie Zacharia was a small-time conservative commentator, who made limited appearances on outlets such as Fox news and other Conservative leaning podcasts. Trump seemingly picked her as press secretary due to her devoted personal loyalty towards him and is reported to have left his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, out of the decision, a choice that alone shows discomfort within the trump administration.

However, this is not the strangest announcement that the President has ever given, so when Zacharia took to the podium on Monday most commentators expected an uneventful, all be it weak, press briefing. However, Zacharias performance on Monday was nothing short of a disaster, only taking 3 questions from conservative leaning outlets and leaving after only 15 minutes. Several other notable gaffes included Zacharia making a 10-minute introduction where she referred to her husband as “my president” and was widely described as being stilted and unprepared. Soon after, questions were beginning to be raised about her qualifications. Zacharia claimed to be a lawyer, however it soon became clear that she had no legal qualification in the United States, even failing the US bar exam, when asked by the press about these allegations, she seemed to imply that she had a law degree from China, not a comment to be making by a republican press secretary in the middle of rising tensions in the east.

In the end, Zacharias position was never tenable because she became the story, the role of press secretary is to be the presidents voice to the public, once questions move away from the administration and become personal, there is often little way to re-build that wall of professionalism, so her firing was inevitable. However, do the events of the past week reflect a wider issue within Trumps administration, that it is running out of professional civil servants willing to support him? Secondly, what could this mean for Republicans’ already dwindling hopes in the upcoming midterms?

Trump is unable to pick a suitable press secretary, how is he expected to lower gas prices? Food prices? Stop the war in Iran?

Since the beginning of his second term in 2025, Trump has sacked 18 high ranking officials within his administration, a

nd often replaces them with staunch allies, no matter what qualifications they hold, so this is certainly not the first time where a position within his administration has been filled because of personal preference. However, the sheer speed of the fall of Zacharia is beginning to raise more questions about the suitability of Trumps appointments. While it is widely common for presidents to appoint staff who support their broad ideology, Trump seems to have taken this a step further, appointing those who have complimented him on a personal level. Take Zacharia, a relatively unknown commentator, however her compliments of Trump gave her just enough of a platform to gain one of the most important jobs in the white house, even if it was only for a short time. Therefore, by stoking Trump ego, are you guaranteed presidential protection, and if that’s true, who else is he supporting behind the scenes?

Questions are also being raised about Zacharias resignation may affect republican efforts in the upcoming midterms set to be held November 3^rd. While this resignation is being seen as nothing short of a gaffe for Trumps administration, I believe this will do little to affect voters come election day, those who are going to vote Republican are extremely difficult to flip as Trump still holds a tight grip over his core base of supporters. What this may do however is bring other issues more sharply into focus. If Trump is unable to pick a suitable press secretary, how is he expected to lower gas prices? Food prices? Stop the war in Iran? These are important issues on the minds of all Americans, and issues that Trumps has promised time and time again to tackle. Many Americans are now waking up to the fact that Trump seems to be spending more time picking his staff, and failing at that, as well as campaigning in deep red states, promising thousands of dollars in exchange for republican success, instead of working on real domestic and foreign issues, giving his administration a huge image problem, a competent press secretary would be able to tell him that.

What’s next for Zacharia? In many ways Zacharia is a victim in this story, placed in a position that she shouldn’t have been given, and expected to hold her own in a room and industry full of highly regarded and intelligent writers and journalists, an option is to follow the footsteps of 11-day communications director Anthony Scaramucci, and continue punditry and commentary. The odds are that Zacharia will continue to turn up on conservative outlets speaking Trumps praises. You never know though, in her spare time she might be able to start her legal career.

Image: The White House / Wikimedia Commons