Trump says Katie Zacharia was treated 'very nastily'

[0:00] Well, a brief stint as White House press secretary is coming to an end for Katie Zachariah [0:04] as the president encourages her to reconsider the position after spending just five days in the role. [0:10] Rebecca Castor joins us now from our D.C. Bureau with the details. [0:14] Rebecca? [0:15] Rachel, this all happened very quickly yesterday. [0:18] First, President Trump told reporters he wasn't firing Katie Zachariah, [0:22] but then the White House confirmed she is transitioning out of the role. [0:26] She lasted less than a week on the job and held only one 14-minute briefing, [0:31] which garnered a swarm of criticism. [0:34] As the press argued, she seemed nervous and unprepared. [0:38] She also had to spend much of the week clarifying her legal background [0:42] after the president mistakenly identified her as an attorney. [0:46] She has a law degree from Pepperdine University, but never passed the bar. [0:50] Doubting she could recover from her rocky start, Trump decided to give her an out. [0:55] She's been treated, I would say, pretty nastily. [1:02] And I said to Katie just two minutes ago, I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do this [1:07] if you don't want. [1:08] She said, this is a lot tougher. [1:11] I said, welcome to the world of Trump. [1:13] I said to her, honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. [1:16] You think about it, but I would reconsider. [1:18] Whether it was her decision or not, Zachariah is following the president's advice. [1:24] Thanking him for the opportunity, she posted on X, [1:27] President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and the most hard-working [1:33] man. [1:34] It was an honor to work for him. [1:36] Zachariah now holds the record for the shortest tenure as White House press secretary, but [1:41] she's in good company. [1:42] Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted just 10 days in the role in 2017, shared this advice. [1:47] Turn off the news and go enjoy your family. [1:51] In time, you'll realize the universe did you a major favor. [1:54] It's not clear yet what Zachariah plans to do next, but she is well-liked behind the scenes [1:59] at the White House. [2:00] Charlie, Rachel, and Griff, back to you. [2:02] Thank you, Rebecca. [2:03] Thanks, Rebecca. [2:04] It's a reminder that politics is a vicious meat grinder, and I guess getting in and out [2:09] in five days is probably maybe not a bad thing. [2:12] Yeah, I mean, I think Scaramucci gave her good advice. [2:15] She's already won the lottery in life. [2:17] She has this gorgeous family. [2:19] I think she should take that time and think about it. [2:22] But look, let's be very clear. [2:24] If the job of the people around the president, when somebody like this comes in, is to prepare [2:30] her, and it looks like she didn't have a lot of time to prepare, and I would have recommended [2:38] a day, two, maybe even a week of preparation before stepping into a role like this with somebody [2:43] like Carolyn Leavitt, who really, you know, really excelled in this job in a way that we've [2:49] never seen before. [2:50] So I think she had some big shoes to fill, and she could have used more prep. [2:57] Maybe she should have asked for that prep herself, but certainly those around her, as you said, [3:01] it's a meat grinder. [3:02] She needed to have a lot more preparation. [3:04] Also, you know, a different standard for anybody working for Trump than saying somebody [3:08] works for Biden. [3:09] Yeah, Binder, not like, nobody got this kind of treatment. [3:14] Binder certainly didn't get that kind of treatment. [3:16] Yeah. [3:18] And look, you know, you're so right, Charlie. [3:20] Look, that press briefing room in the White House is a difficult place to be in. [3:25] And the job of the press secretary, whoever it is, and Carolyn Leavitt did such a good job, [3:30] is to advocate on behalf of the president, to defend the president to that tough roomful [3:38] of journalists and, you know, deflect things, but also advance the actual policy goals and [3:45] put out the successes of the administration and things they have done. [3:48] While working for the American people. [3:49] While working for the American people and getting that press corps the information and the facts [3:56] so that they can understand why these policies are working, et cetera, et cetera. [3:59] And unfortunately, in her case, because of the whole attorney, lawyer, passing the bar, [4:04] failing the bar, became the story out of the gate, became her. [4:08] And that made it more difficult for her to jump in and just defend the president and the administration's [4:14] policies. [4:14] To be clear, it would have been best for her to be, you know, ready on day one. [4:18] But very few people, as you said, in this tough environment, most people need a few days, [4:22] if not a week of prep. [4:24] And I wish she would have had that. [4:25] And I think it would have gone a little smoother for her. [4:27] That said, maybe she, maybe she, as Scaramucci said, maybe she actually saved herself from [4:34] something terrible. [4:35] Yeah, but let me just say this. [4:37] It's a tough job. [4:37] We've had, we've had her on the show. [4:39] She did so well that weekend. [4:41] She was on with us last weekend. [4:43] Katie Zechariah is a bright, wonderful woman. [4:46] And so I can't wait to see what she does next. [4:48] Absolutely. [4:48] That's such a great point. [4:50] She did great last weekend with us. [4:52] So she clearly knows how to do it. [4:54] It's just nerves got in the way. [4:56] Be sure to like and subscribe for all the Fox News latest on YouTube and catch full shows [5:02] streaming now on Fox 1.