The View co-hosts were not impressed by the newly appointed White House press secretary is Katie Zacharia’s first press conference. Aside from the press conference being brief, the daytime talk show hosts criticized her delivery, ability to interact with the media, and questioned her overall credentials. Anna Navarro had the most brazen critique.
“I’ve literally had bouts of hiccups that have lasted longer than this press conference. It was such a mess because it was 14 minutes long. She couldn’t read. There are second graders that read at a higher level than she does. She couldn’t answer questions, even questions that were from handpicked and curated by right-wing media outlets, asking her softball questions, and she couldn’t even answer those. But what do you need to be a press secretary? You need to be under Trump, a psychopath. Check. You need to be blonde. Being blonde helps. Check. You need to be able to lie, but you need to be able to lie with confidence, not looking nervous. And that’s where I think she’s lacking.
Sunny Hostin revealed that Zacharia’s reportedly passed the bar in China, calling into question the validity of her experience as it relates to her new role. “She’s going to be press secretary; she should have gone to clown school,” Narrvo added. “We’ve reached the point in American politics where reality is funnier than Saturday Night Live.”
Following Trump’s general instructions, Zacharia began her briefing with eight minutes of opening remarks praising the president, noting she’s desired to work for him for “a really long time,” and provided attendees with updated data on wage gains, drug prices, jobs, and energy production.
With six minutes left for questions, she took questions from a few outlets and stumbled during the Q&A before breaking the news that Trump demanded former U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle’s resignation shortly before leaving the stage. Guilfoyle was asked to resign amid conversations of her alleged misconduct.
“I am going to end it because President Trump is heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to Alaska,” Zacharia said. Trump’s departure, however, wasn’t immediate. Reporters were left shocked and confused, noting that it was one of the shortest press conferences in the past decade.
Jimmy Kimmel also roasted Zacharia’s inaugural press conference, calling it a “disaster” and comparing her aesthetic to a Barbie doll. Echoing Navarro’s sentiments, Kimmel said of Zacharia, "Her reading is good for an 11-year-old.”
