Katie Zacharia breaks silence on White House exit

[0:00] former white house press secretary katie zachariah is here katie it's good to see you welcome back [0:04] um it has been 10 days and i feel like you finally have the opportunity to set [0:09] the record straight what do you think happened why do you think this didn't work out thanks so [0:16] much for having me on rob i love being on with you you are the start of my career and i'm grateful [0:21] listen the media does not like outsiders and washington dc does not like outsiders and what i [0:27] would briefly say is that the media and all of washington made it very difficult for me to do [0:34] the job i set out to do rob which is to amplify the winds and historic record-setting precedent [0:41] that president trump has set especially ahead of the most consequential midterms they would [0:46] not let me do my job which was to focus on him and focus on what he's doing to win and it became [0:51] too amassed uh over me um katie i was shocked by the hannity treatment if i'm being honest i don't [1:00] think he does that if he doesn't get the green light from somebody perhaps at the white house i don't [1:05] know but what do you make of this narrative that fox did this on purpose that the hannity interview [1:10] and that the fox and friends interviews were set up deliberately not to go well for you how do you [1:16] respond to that well rob i'm just as perplexed about what happened specifically with sean hannity look [1:22] earlier in the year in january late february i was asked by sean hannity's team i got a phone call from [1:28] them asking me if i would consider being sean's california man on the street basically asking [1:34] californians what they thought of gavin newsom ahead of potentially a presidential run that gavin newsom [1:40] might make so sean hannity's team after being on with him a number of times and having a great rapport [1:46] with sean thought that i would be a valuable asset to be continuing a relationship and in the press [1:53] for him on his show wow i was never asked back on his show after my time at department of homeland [1:59] security though i pitched a number of topics to them then as i became white house press secretary [2:05] they reached out to me very aggressively and while i had an incredible relationship with most other [2:11] hosts and had continuing longevity whether it was with trace gallagher on fox news at night or jesse [2:17] waters prime time i had been on those shows at least weekly if not bi-weekly isn't that interesting [2:23] so he thinks you were good enough to work on his show but not to be press secretary and i i doubt that [2:28] he had any interest in your educational background at that point when you had that call is that accurate [2:32] is that fair we we never had a conversation about my educational background they were excited that i was [2:38] someone who could be able to deliver fun fast exciting news on the street will you ever go back [2:44] on sean hannity's show look i never bow away from a fight or back away from a fight rob i've been on cnn [2:51] i've debated some of the most hostile uh not anchors but guests and i have been able to do it with grace with [2:58] dignity and walk away and even maintain decorum on this particular night if i had known i was going [3:04] into the ring perhaps with someone like jake tapper though he's been very nice since i took that role [3:10] i would have had a very different disposition towards him rob my gloves are on i'm ready to go [3:15] but because i had had a very friendly rapport with sean and he had even made very backing statements [3:21] about me on tuesday october 13th really coming to my defense i was not prepared for the hostility [3:28] that i received okay and i'm sure jake tapper was so nice to you because he probably wanted this [3:32] same interview right here again just my opinion katie let me just ask you if you don't go on fox that [3:37] night i saw you that afternoon i was there for a few hours at the white house thursday night i see you [3:41] you go on with hannity that night you go on with fox and friends the next morning if you don't do that [3:45] you're scheduled to fly out with the president to i think georgia on friday are you still press secretary [3:50] tonight i would hope so and i likely think i would be robbed but i can't know what would have happened [3:57] otherwise though it would be very likely honest question did it feel like the white house staff [4:03] was behind you during your brief time at the white house just five days yeah i had a very great working [4:10] relationship with stephen chung the communications director he's incredible a good friend and we had i [4:16] had a great rapport with him i had obviously great relationship that started in the beginning with [4:21] president trump and only continued being able to travel with him get to know him more listen to [4:26] him and how he spoke about things i was able to capture that very quickly i'm envious of my [4:32] predecessor caroline levitt who was able to be with him for almost over a year rob on the campaign trail [4:39] to learn how he speaks how he speaks about things especially what he wants to talk about ahead of the [4:44] campaign and ahead of these midterms rob but i was able to gain uh very close relationships [4:50] very quickly okay um and just a question after the hannity interview why would you rush on to fox and [4:57] friends the next morning why wouldn't you never made a newsmax appearance in those five days why [5:01] didn't you come on with us or go on another network why would you rush back to fox yeah so basically i [5:09] wanted to book what i could per uh many requests for me to be in the media yeah and i i didn't really have [5:16] a ton of control except hey i'd love for you to book these shows let's get these things moving look i [5:22] saw you that day rob uh we had we had spoken on thursday and my effort was to book be able to book [5:30] all shows all networks uh with everybody that i would love to and i there's not a lot of bias that [5:36] i can weigh in i couldn't show favorites or network favorites or host favorites which was why i went [5:43] straight to fox and friends i hadn't been on that show as much though you showed a picture earlier [5:48] where i was with brian kilmeade who i consider a friend ainsley who was very kind and warm that day [5:54] and uh charlie hurt who is also great i had worked with them a lot more particularly charlie and the [5:59] fox and friends weekend crew rob so there were no favorites it was just how can i maximize the messaging [6:07] for the president on every show i understand what katie have you learned over the last 10 days through [6:13] this experience which is one i'm sure you'll never forget yeah you know on that friday night after we had [6:19] a very wonderful dinner with the vice president and his incredibly beautiful family and that evening [6:26] my oldest son said to me mom no matter what i'm so proud of you because not only did you get a job [6:33] that no other mom could get in this country but you were able to withstand a lot of hate and i'm so [6:41] proud of you and when my friends at school ask me what happened i'm going to say your mom couldn't [6:46] get that job and this is just what i learned rob and what i'll say is that while the world was raging [6:53] around against me i was focused on how can i keep moving forward to deliver for president trump rob i have [7:00] never gone into the media to be press secretary it was always my goal and many can affirm this confirm [7:07] this to just work for president trump and that role was such a gift and such a privilege that he asked [7:14] me to do but it was never the ultimate goal the ultimate goal was to be able to work for him do you [7:19] want to work for him again absolutely i would do so in a heartbeat um the wall street journal wrote this [7:25] week that you were in the process of giving an interview i believe to the wall street journal [7:29] when you were summoned to the oval office on that friday afternoon what were your hopes for the job [7:34] you didn't really get a chance to do it but what were your hopes for that job yeah the intention of [7:39] setting that meeting was i wanted to secure positive or at least fair headlines for president trump [7:46] on these midterm rallies rob look i was so irritated that he cannot get i still am irritated to this day and [7:54] angry that the mainstream media will not give him positive coverage of what he's doing we have [7:59] never seen a president work this hard for midterm elections and yet the wall street journal writes [8:06] just recently maybe a day or two ago writes this very very disgusting piece about how the rallies aren't [8:12] that packed and this is just a personal tour and you know i'm i'm really summarizing here but this is [8:19] this is what i was hoping to cut off at the past rob i wanted to sit down with them and meet them at [8:25] every single rally where they traveled and give a positive quote or opinion about those rallies because [8:31] i have been a big fan of president trump for a very long time i lost friends and family for voting [8:36] firm in 2020 i went to many 2024 rallies that piece was absolute garbage and not reflective of what the [8:43] president is doing that was one of my main goals right there with the wall street journal okay i want [8:47] to play you a sound bite just to get your reaction so caroline levitt was an extremely popular press [8:53] secretary uh she now works at fox ironically um she stated last week uh and this got a lot of attention [9:00] quote that obviously this job was not for her and then she was on bill maher which i thought was sort of [9:07] strange on friday night and she said this about you take a listen i give her credit for standing up there [9:15] and as the president said it wasn't a good fit and that's okay i wish her well and we're on to the [9:19] next and he has a lot of options sometimes you give up a home run at the first inning they don't usually [9:25] go to the bullpen that quick you know well look i mean the president did have a hit show called the [9:30] apprentice where he's uh known for you know moving on from people so hey it's in his nature to do that [9:37] type of thing i guess what was your reaction to that well i watched his rally in fort myers florida [9:44] i watched almost all of his rallies again hard to keep up because he does so many but i do my best and [9:50] i was grateful for president trump's affirmative uh comments about me on that friday a perfect [9:56] beautiful woman walked into that room and they started screaming hold on let me i think we have [10:00] that katie let me play that just so everyone at home knows what we're talking about this is donald trump [10:04] friday afternoon at a rally take a look they were screaming they want to know so many different [10:09] things what about this what about that no wonder that poor young woman she was a perfect beautiful [10:16] woman when she walked into that press room and they started screaming at her she freaked out and i said [10:22] you know what there are nicer ways for you to make a living you want to deal with these maniacs you can [10:29] deal if you want but there are easier ways for you to live so he's saying that and caroline [10:36] levitt seems like she's saying something a little bit different how did you react to that well rob i [10:42] will do what i've always done which is track what president trump says intuitively it's how i got the [10:49] job i tracked all of his messaging on true social no one ever did my talking points for me and what i [10:55] believe are the words that come out of president trump's mouth that and also that he spoke to me [11:00] personally and that he shared in front of the marine one gaggle he has been nothing but kind and gracious [11:05] and have you spoken with him since i've been in close touch with the white house i'll put it that [11:10] way but not the president i've been in close touch with the white house okay um who would you like to [11:16] see as the next press secretary because the president's made it clear that he's got to put [11:21] somebody in that role he'll likely do so after the midterms well rob i've given this a lot of thought [11:27] and even before me i thought maria bartiromo was an excellent choice for president trump she is tough she is [11:35] loyal she knows every little detail on the business side but also on the political side she has been an [11:42] example to me as someone that i wanted to grow to be in the media and have learned a lot from i've been [11:48] on her show a number of times i think she would be excellent at really holding the mainstream media [11:53] and fake news accountable while being loyal and also kind she also has a very kind warm side to her but [12:00] she is tough okay uh you wrote a piece in the new york post yesterday you say quote i've always wanted [12:05] to work for president trump so being back in california feels like an interlude a temporary pause between [12:11] the work that matters most um to me that sounds like you you want your old job back um what is next for [12:19] you well i don't know if i'd say i want the old job back though if the president asked as he did before i [12:26] would take it rob but i would take a job working with the president and i think what i can say is [12:31] there is a lot of exciting things ahead and i will always be an advocate for what he's doing he saved [12:37] this country not once but twice and i think it feels like you've got something huh you've got something [12:44] lined up okay it's safe to say that a lot of people say oh big announcement coming and then we wait [12:48] six months and nothing happens it feels like there's something with you is that fair [12:51] that's fair okay um i just have to ask you about this katie um we are you know halloween's right [12:56] around the corner uh and i am seeing people dressed up as katie zachariah uh for halloween what [13:02] is your message as former white house press secretary to people dressing as katie [13:06] zachariah for halloween okay i've never used extensions this is my real hair there was a lot of [13:12] dragging me online i've never actually dyed my hair i do have a trick to keeping it blonde but it's not [13:17] dye so you can't find it in a box and i hope you do dress up as me because it is absolutely hilarious [13:23] we will be dressing up as a family i will wear the og costume and stay tuned for what my kids will be [13:30] katie uh thanks so much for being here um i've met those four kids uh and i saw them at the white [13:35] house that day you're welcome back thank you katie zachariah good luck thank you rob information [13:43] truth is freedom is newsmax it's real news for real people