On Friday, just days after Katie Zacharia’s debut as White House press secretary, a White House senior official informed Fox News’ Peter Doocy that she is “transitioning out” of the role.
The New York Times, citing three people familiar with the matter, subsequently reported that Zacharia had been fired.
‘Welcome to the world of Trump.’
The White House did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
On the eve of her ouster, Zacharia had a particularly rough interview with Sean Hannity in which the Fox News host grilled her about failing the bar exam. President Donald Trump had referred to Zacharia as “an attorney” in his post announcing her appointment.
Zacharia explained that she graduated from law school the same week she got married and that she and her family soon afterward migrated to communist China. Before moving to China, she sat for the bar exam since she was already pre-registered and she wanted to avoid having “withdrawal status.”
Hannity also pressed her about her “widely panned” 14-minute debut, in which she answered only three questions.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Zacharia, whom he regards as a “nice person,” was being treated “pretty nastily” and that he told her, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want. She said, ‘This is a lot tougher.’ I said, ‘Welcome to the world of Trump.'”
“Katie is off to a start that — the news has been so nasty to her. I’ve never seen anything like it, actually,” said Trump.
Although the president indicated that he would ultimately leave the decision up to Zacharia, he recalled telling her, “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider.”
RELATED: Katie Zacharia takes podium for the first time as press secretary — and Trump reacts
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Zacharia, who was named to the role last Friday, was the seventh woman in a row to head the White House press secretary office.
It’s presently unclear who will take over for Zacharia following her five-day tenure.
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Donald trump, Karoline leavitt, Katie zacharia, Press secretary, White house, Politics
