Fmr. Trump press aide: Zacharia is going to be a 'train wreck'

[0:00] Let's get right to MSNOW senior White House reporter Von Hilliard, who was inside that [0:04] briefing room. So it was MSNOW contributor and New York Times chief White House correspondent [0:08] Peter Baker. Von, you're with me here. Take us into the room for a second. This was [0:13] a lot of anticipation. It always is. It's a new high profile figure who's going to be speaking [0:18] on behalf of the most powerful person in the world. How did this sort of room react to what [0:23] we experienced with? When she walked away from that podium, it was an aghast reaction from [0:28] literally everybody. Because it was so quick. It was so quick. And half of the room are, [0:33] I would say now, are more Trump aligned outlets or Trump sympathizing outlets. And even those [0:39] folks representing, you know, everybody was looking at each other because even those outlets [0:43] that got used to taking getting questions under Caroline Levitt didn't get that opportunity. [0:48] And what you had was somebody that the president of the United States three weeks before the [0:52] midterms, you know, his this this was taken live across outlets everywhere across the country. [0:58] This was his opportunity to have hand select one person to deliver a new midterm message [1:04] with three weeks to go. That is the person that he chose to do that. She took just three questions [1:09] there, was not eager to engage on policy clearly on any front. There was one serious policy question [1:15] that was about whether the U.S. Trump administration was still intel sharing with Ukrainian forces. And she [1:22] didn't have that answer. She said that she'd have to get back to Peter Doocy of Fox in response. [1:26] That is significant because there's already consternation among European allies in Ukraine [1:31] about whether Donald Trump is committed in the years ahead to defend them against her in their [1:35] war against Russia. And yet she didn't have an even answer to that. There's serious questions about [1:39] what this role is. As you and I were saying before we started this conversation on camera, [1:44] is that, you know, Peter, you'll agree there are a lot of times when the person at the podium may not [1:49] have an answer to your question, but they sure as heck know how to filibuster. They could talk your [1:53] they could talk your ears off till you're blue in the face. Speaking about the policy at large, [1:57] the president's made clear that he's upset with both Russia and Ukraine, yada, yada, yada. This [2:01] this was not the case here. What just sort of initial reactions you've been in that room? I've [2:06] shared it with you many times. What sort of struck you about what we saw here for me out of the gates [2:10] is what appeared to break the Hatch Act, right? I would one of the calls would be the Office of Special [2:17] Counsel. Karine Jolpere even got a slap on the wrist for her for what she said isn't related to the Hatch Act [2:23] when she referred to them as MAGA Republicans. This went way further in terms of crossing that [2:27] line. Yeah, you're right. Look, I think, Peter, you're right to remind people it's a tough job. [2:32] It's not an easy job, even under the best of circumstances and with the most sympathetic of [2:36] presidents getting up in front of that room. And Vaughn was there. I was there. It was packed to the [2:40] gills. It's a very intimidating atmosphere for somebody who's never done it before. Having said that, [2:46] she was clearly so uncomfortable at the podium, so not confident in her brief that she has, [2:53] I think, created an uphill challenge for herself going forward to prove that she can do the job. [2:57] And I think to your point about what the role is, and Peter Ducey asked this question sort of, [3:02] and then we didn't really get a full answer there in the sense of how she sees it. But traditionally, [3:06] when I started doing this back in 1996, under Republicans and Democrats, the White House press [3:12] secretary speaks for the president, yes, and therefore is often can be political in their [3:17] communications. But the White House press secretary also speaks for the United States of America, [3:21] right? Speaks for the country, is a voice seen and heard around the world by our enemies and our [3:27] allies to explain American policy, to explain where the United States stands, which is not [3:33] a partisan position. And then in the past, during election seasons, other White Houses have literally [3:39] deferred questions on election earring to campaign paid spokespeople. I remember traveling on Air Force [3:46] one, and they would have a White House press secretary for governmental related questions, [3:51] policy related questions, and then they would have a campaign aide, a campaign press secretary [3:55] to answer any questions about politics. This right out from the gate, she's just talking about the [3:59] midterms as if she was a campaign spokesperson, not a spokesperson for the government. [4:04] Yeah. To be clear, when I was talking about the Hatch Act, for those who are not familiar with the [4:07] Hatch Act, that's the law that bars civil servants from politicking during their day jobs. The only [4:12] individuals who are allowed to do that are the president of the United States [4:15] and the vice president, obviously, as press secretary. That applies to you here, I should [4:19] say, Vaughn, as I was speaking to a former high-level Trump aide in the moments before we came out here, [4:24] this person said, I think she is going to be a train wreck. It's not just open season for people [4:29] to be critical on this woman. She has a tough job. This is going to be a tough gig for anybody who does [4:34] it. But it is also a very high-level job, as Peter noted, with real critical responsibilities. And it [4:39] matters to hear those statements because that tells you what the president is certain to be thinking [4:43] about it as well right now. Can you just pull back the curtain a little bit on how that room has [4:47] changed? Because this is what's been most dramatic for me over the course of the last 15 or so years, [4:52] is how it is no longer sort of these traditional journalists trying to get policy specifics and [4:58] positions from the president and from the White House. It's become a lot more influencers and [5:03] sycophants. Breitbart in that new media seat, as they said, was the first one called on right out of [5:08] the gates. Part of the job for Donald Trump's press secretary and the entire communications office there, [5:13] to your point, is managing relationships with those right-wing outlets or propaganda outlets [5:18] or, you know, Trump-backed outlets that spew his 2020 election conspiracy theories. That is a big [5:26] part of this job. In choosing Katie Zachariah, they had somebody who peddled Pizzagate conspiracies, [5:31] 2020 election conspiracies, COVID vaccine conspiracy theories. So they have somebody that can manage [5:36] those relations. But then the other part of this is providing facts. By the way, those are questions [5:40] she's still going to have to face in that room at some point when she calls on other individuals. [5:44] Absolutely. And part of this is, to your point, is she ran afoul already of reality by saying, [5:49] you know, in their opening remarks that there were record-breaking attendance for his campaign [5:55] rallies. That's just not true. Last night in Ohio, there were thousands of empty seats. At his [6:00] convention in Dallas last month, there were tens of thousands of empty seats. So already she is [6:05] showing the political propaganda that Donald Trump wants to hear. And as one person who is close to [6:11] this operation messaged me right after this, is that nobody, you know, serious in a prepared capacity [6:16] wanted to follow Caroline Levitt, because she was very good at this. There could be an opening, [6:21] despite Zachariah suggesting she wants to serve out the next two years in the White House, [6:26] that perhaps the next person would be a little bit more comfortable to take this podium after that [6:31] performance today. [6:31] Yes. So there was a little bit of news, obviously, Peter, that came out of this specifically as it [6:35] relates to one of the major headlines we've been watching. That's the situation regarding [6:39] Kimberly Guilfoyle. And here's how that exchange went down. Listen. [6:42] The president said yesterday to reporters that he is considering firing her. Do you know a timeline [6:50] for that? And also potentially who could be on the short list to replace her if he does? [6:55] We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, [7:02] and we wish her well. Okay. Second question for you, if I may, a personal question. Your family [7:09] is in California. Your husband, you have four children. I'm wondering how you manage. [7:17] So that was, we played part of that second question, because that was so jarring, [7:19] because the natural follow-up would have been, all right, you've asked her to resign. Has she [7:22] resigned? What is the president's view on these allegations? Are they being investigated? And beyond [7:27] right now, is there a U.S. ambassador to Greece right now? This was, you know, this was the big [7:33] headline that should have come out of today's announcements. No, it was a stunner, actually. [7:37] She said two sentences that she had been sent out there to say, obviously, and then the reporter, [7:41] for whatever reason, decided not to follow up the actual news that has just been delivered to us. [7:45] You're right about that. It was perplexing, to say the least, whether she should have had that in [7:51] her opening statement. Usually, a White House presser, when they come out, if they have news, [7:54] they're going to deliver at the top. Maybe that wasn't the way to go in this case, but certainly, [8:00] I wish we had been able to ask more questions to then suss out exactly the issues you're asking [8:05] about. Has Guilfoyle agreed to resign? Why has the president thought this was bad? Of all the [8:09] different things that people have done to make money in this administration, why is it that this [8:15] one crossed the line and other ones didn't? I think that's a valid question and one we didn't get a [8:19] chance to ask. We should note, obviously, the second question from a female reporter in the [8:24] room was that personal question about her family and how she manages to balance work and life. [8:30] No male press secretary has ever been asked that question. I can imagine the criticism. [8:35] You know, you would think for if a man had asked that question in this circumstance, too, that just [8:40] struck me personally here. We'll wait and see whether it's time for her to move her family, [8:45] depending on the president's view of how she did. Peter, your take on just the value [8:49] of these press briefings anymore, because they really did. I remember the old days with [8:54] Jay Carney and Josh Earnest. I mean, our photographer, I dare acknowledge this, our camera guy who had [9:00] his camera locked on me through those things would say, hey, Peter, you're going to have [9:02] to take an energy drink because you're starting to fall. I mean, these could go for almost two [9:06] hours, right? You'd be talking about policies in parts of the world I knew nothing about as [9:10] well. And they would go on. Do they still have the same value to the American public? We don't [9:15] want to never you never want to give up access. But do they still have a real impact in terms of [9:19] their value? They're different, obviously. Look, when I started, I think that you did expect to [9:24] get a pretty substantive briefing on most days on a variety of topics. I was always struck by the range [9:31] of things that a press secretary had to answer about on any given day. And most of them were not [9:36] about politics. Most of them were about policy. Most of them were about, you know, what is the [9:39] president's stance on this bill? What does the president think about this, you know, revolution [9:45] overseas? What's the president going to do about this big personnel issue? These are important [9:50] questions. And it's, I think, in recent years, not entirely just under Trump, but especially under [9:56] Trump, been converted into a job where the purpose is to go out there and read a lot of span and just [10:03] give the company line rather than to actually grapple with the questions that might be important to [10:09] the American people. And I think that there's something that's been lost in that sense. It's [10:13] just now just a spin factory. It's always been spin, of course. Everybody spins, Democrats, [10:18] Republicans. But there used to also be something of a substantive component to it, and that seems to [10:22] be less so today. And in terms of the substance, four questions that she took today from a total of [10:26] three reporters. Caroline Levitt took 18 reporters. So it's 18 reporters. Karine Jopierre on her first [10:33] day spoke to 25 separate reporters. Vaughn, do we know when we hear from her next? There was no [10:39] direct indication. There was a little question Thursday, Friday. She seemed to kind of waver on [10:43] whether she was going to be available. I know that she said, well, the president can answer some more [10:47] of your specific questions when he heads to the Marine 2, Marine 1 to head to Alaska. So we may see [10:52] him. We'll be watching. The president got a chance to speak for himself pretty soon. Vaughn, [10:56] appreciate you. I know you're in the room. Peter Baker, thank you as well. [10:58] Hey, it's Rachel. 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