Washington. White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job, following a series of blunders that added to the distractions facing her embattled boss, President Donald Trump.

“Can confirm,” a White House official told AFP, after Fox News reported that Zacharia, 41, was “transitioning out.”

The writing was on the wall earlier when Trump indicated he was ready to see his newly appointed spokeswoman go, amid criticism that she had misrepresented herself as a lawyer and following a much-mocked first press briefing.

“I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?’” Trump told reporters. “I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have to do this’ ... I said to her, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider.’”

During Trump’s first term, Anthony Scaramucci’s 11-day tenure as White House communications director was widely mocked for its brevity and became an internet meme.

Zacharia lasted less than half that long.

“Records are made to be broken,” Scaramucci wrote on X, adding, “But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”

Zacharia took over from combative predecessor Karoline Leavitt, who reshaped White House media coverage by bringing in more friendly outlets and frequently attacking critical media.

Zacharia got off to a rocky start with her first press briefing on Tuesday. It lasted less than 15 minutes, beginning with a notably slow recitation of what she described as Trump’s many accomplishments before she took just three questions from reporters.

She was then plunged into controversy when questions emerged about her claims to be a lawyer.

The episode has added to the distractions facing 80-year-old Trump as he travels around the country to boost Republican candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 congressional midterm elections, with polls predicting heavy losses for his party.

Trump himself is also facing declining approval ratings as Americans grow increasingly dissatisfied with the war against Iran, inflation and perceptions of corruption.

Not a Real Lawyer

Zacharia had described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.

Although she holds a law degree from a California university, she acknowledged on Thursday that she had failed the bar exam, a requirement to practice law in the United States.

She embarked on a series of damage-control interviews with pro-Trump outlets, but they did little to quell the controversy.

During one interview, Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close Trump ally, asked whether she had retaken the bar exam.

“I did not,” she replied.

“It was never my intent to go into the practice of law,” she said.

In another interview Thursday with pro-Trump outlet Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had registered to take the exam but had been “distracted and overwhelmed” by plans to move to China with her husband.

She said “many people in the field” had assured her that she could “label myself a lawyer” because she held a law degree.

China’s Toilets

“Fox & Friends,” which often conducts friendly interviews with Trump administration officials, took an unusually direct approach on Friday when a host asked Zacharia whether she still had the president’s confidence.

“I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me,” she said, sidestepping the question.

Zacharia also stirred controversy Thursday with remarks disparaging China, whose leader, Xi Jinping, had recently visited Trump in Washington for a high-profile reception.

Recalling perceptions in 2016 that China would soon overtake the United States, she told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec in an interview: “I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, ‘How is China the next country on the horizon? They don’t even have proper toilets.’”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning responded on Friday by suggesting Zacharia should “visit China more often.”

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