New White House Press Secretary Defends Shaky First Briefing

New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has defended her performance during her first press briefing, attributing a shaky start to a lack of adequate preparation time and a hectic schedule. Zacharia told host Jack Posobiec on "Real America's Voice" that she woke up at 3 a.m. on the day of the briefing and had not been given "ample" time to prepare.

Zacharia, 42, described the week leading up to the Tuesday briefing as chaotic. She noted that while press briefings are typically held in the afternoon, allowing for sufficient time to gather information, her briefing was scheduled differently. "Monday, Columbus Day, is when I got the briefing materials, and then Tuesday morning they were completed. And I woke up at 3 in the morning on Tuesday to prepare what I had, but they weren’t finalized until – we didn’t finalize everything until about 8 a.m.," she stated. "I never had a full briefing beforehand and I went out and I effectuated the briefing."

The new press secretary, who succeeded Karoline Leavitt, recounted her rapid onboarding process. She received a call from President Trump on a Wednesday while taking her son to a pumpkin patch. By Thursday, she had flown to Washington D.C. to meet with Trump and accepted the job. She returned to California on Saturday to pack, traveled back to D.C. on Sunday, and began her duties on Monday.

Regarding the briefing's brevity, lasting only 14 minutes with three questions taken, Zacharia explained it was intentional due to President Trump's planned departure from D.C. that morning. "Knowing that White House protocol is pretty specific, it was absolutely my goal to keep it short considering he is his own best spokesperson and he would love and does love gaggling with the media as he goes to Marine One, so I wanted to give ample deference and not barge into his time," she said. Her initial understanding was that the briefing would conclude by 10 a.m. to allow for Trump's 10 a.m. departure on Marine One.

Zacharia also addressed reports concerning her legal background. She confirmed that she had never passed a bar exam, having failed the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University's law school in 2011. She explained that she was planning to move to China at the time and "didn’t want to withdraw" from the exam. She added that she had been advised by Pepperdine's president on how to describe herself post-graduation, recommending she avoid terms like "attorney" or "esquire" and instead use "lawyer."

During her first briefing, Zacharia appeared visibly nervous, relying heavily on her notes and at one point mistakenly referring to her husband as the president. The briefing included an eight-minute opening statement, leaving only six minutes for questions. President Trump had personally prepped her for the briefing, requesting she highlight his accomplishments and announce his decision regarding Kimberly Guilfoyle's resignation as US ambassador to Greece, according to a source.