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Trump’s new press secretary has a history of pushing banana conspiracy theories

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Cite

Keane, I. (2026, October 11). Trump’s new press secretary has a history of pushing banana conspiracy theories. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-press-secretary-katie-zacharia-conspiracy-theorist-b3064907.html

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The Independent · collected 2026-10-11 · by Isabel Keane
Content note This article describes abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

Katie Zacharia, President Trump's newly appointed White House press secretary, has been found to have shared conspiracy theories on her Truth Social account. She promoted the debunked Pizzagate theory and accused Democrats like John Podesta of being pedophiles. Additionally, she expressed support for QAnon, another baseless conspiracy theory, suggesting a deeper alignment with fringe beliefs. The revelations come from a report by Popular Information published on Sunday.
Written by AI on 2026-10-12, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 18, 2026, Katie Zacharia resigned just five days after being appointed as the White House Press Secretary by President Donald Trump, following a series of controversial appearances and poor performances during interviews on Fox News. Her short tenure raised questions about the role's relevance in an administration where the president often communicates directly with the media and public.

Zacharia had been selected to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the position at the end of August after the birth of her second child. Prior to this role, Zacharia worked as a communications advisor for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which owns Truth Social, and previously served briefly as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.

Text messages obtained by The New York Post revealed that Zacharia herself had pushed for the contentious interviews that led to her departure. These appearances included awkward interactions with Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and "Fox & Friends," where she struggled to answer questions about her qualifications, including not passing the California bar exam.

The incident has sparked debate about the importance of the press secretary role in an administration where direct presidential communication is frequent, highlighting a broader dilemma for how the White House manages media relations.

Written for “Katie Zacharia Hired As Press Secretary” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 120 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Katie Zacharia Hired As Press Secretary
Politics · 121 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 24% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 1 of 5 claims Outlet record 68/100
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 2 of 9 claims Outlet record 68/100
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on Katie Zacharia being offered a press secretary role, while Article B discusses her appointment and past actions. They describe different phases or aspects of an ongoing development.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 3 of 21 claims Outlet record 70/100
“While both articles discuss Katie Zacharia's appointment as Trump's press secretary, ARTICLE B focuses on her past controversial social media activity rather than reporting on the same specific event described in ARTICLE A.”
The Straits Times
Hedges 3 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 1 of 25 claims Outlet record 61/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Katie Zacharia's role as White House press secretary and do not describe the same specific incident.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses Katie Zacharia's background and history with conspiracy theories, while Article B covers her first press briefing and announcements regarding Ambassador Guilfoyle. These are different events.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 2 of 38 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of Katie Zacharia's involvement with Trump's administration: one focuses on her history of promoting conspiracy theories, while the other reports on her debut as press secretary.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
24%
6 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
121
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3464 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Isabel Keane
80 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 President Donald Trump was briefed by top military officials on options for Iran, as administration officials gave Arab Gulf states a heads-up that attacks would resume after the midterm elections, according to a report.
🔮 While Trump was supposed to appear at a rally in Kansas on Saturday, he canceled that appearance and will instead participate in a series of virtual rallies.
🔮 The former president’s speechwriter, Jon Favreau, joked in response: “Would anyone else on the right like to keep this going for another few days or no?”
🔮 Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee suggested that convicted murderer Christa Pike’s death sentence will likely remain the same unless challenged by the courts — one month after her failed execution.
🔮 Fox News’ viewership is set to hit historic lows ahead of the midterms, suggesting that conservatives may be tuning out ahead of the high-stakes elections — despite the GOP’s best efforts.
🔮 Baptist said in the suit that had he known he was not getting as much shrimp as was advertised, he wouldn’t have bought it.
🔮 Enten, who is CNN’s chief data analyst, noted that the number of House seats predicted to be won by Democrats had increased from 232 in August to 238 in October.
🔮 While posing as the teen, the suspect told investigators that they were worried they may get mistaken for Makayla Craig, who is a registered sex offender out of Oregon.
🔮 He estimated that repairs would likely cost between $30,000 and $50,000.
🔮 According to the report, police concluded their investigation into the incident that same day, saying they had no kitchen photos or video and could not establish probable cause.
Also by Isabel Keane
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 80 articles by Isabel Keane →

Topics

Democrats Fox News Hollywood Pizzagate Truth Social

Subjects

Zacharia PERSON · 9× Trump PERSON · 6× Democrats NORP · 5× Truth Social ORG · 4× Fox News ORG · 3× Hollywood ORG · 3× White House ORG · 3× John Podesta PERSON · 2× Podesta PERSON · 2× Independent ORG · 1×

Narrative

Zacharia replied to the post, writing, “I was wondering the same thing…” When asked about Zacharia’s promotion of conspiracy theories, the White House referred The Independent to Trump’s Truth Social post announcing Zacharia’s appointment on Friday. Trump wrote that it was his “great honor” to name Zacharia as his latest press secretary.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-12
🔮 “I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next White House Press Secretary, as she has the respect of, and will work fantastically with, the Media, the American People, and my Administration.”

Claims (25 extracted, 6 hedged)

The newly appointed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia previously promoted the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory and shared posts accusing Democrats and Hollywood elites of being pedophiles and cannibals. asserted
secretary → appoint → Democrats
Zacharia, who previously worked as a communications adviser for the president’s Trump Media and Technology Group, shared her deep belief in Pizzagate — as well as other fringe beliefs — on her Truth Social account, according to a report published Sunday by Popular Information. uncertain
who → work → Information
The fledgling press secretary’s Truth Social posts reveal a deep belief in Pizzagate, the unfounded conspiracy that prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and her 2016 presidential campaign chairman John Podesta, were involved in a child sex trafficking ring. asserted
Democrats → reveal → ring
Pizzagate baselessly claims that Clinton, Podesta and other powerful Democrats ran their sex trafficking business out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong. uncertain
Clinton → claim → pizzeria
Zacharia, 41, was so invested in shining a light on the theory that she took to Truth Social on several occasions to try to urge Fox News to report on it. asserted
she → shin → it
“[W]hy doesn’t Fox News do a ‘feature’ on what a pedophile Podesta is,” she wrote on Truth Social on September 7, 2022, tagging President Donald Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity. asserted
she → do → Trump
On September 4, 2022, when it was announced that Podesta had agreed to work in the Biden White House, Zacharia posted “Pedo Podesta. #pedoPodesta.” asserted
Zacharia → announce → Podesta
Later that day, the California native also wrote, “The radical left Hollywood elites are sick pedo cannibals. asserted
elites → write → ?
Zacharia continued her petitioning to Hannity a month later, writing on October 17, 2022, “[W]here’s the feature on John Podesta?” asserted
feature → continue → Podesta
She also shared a post on Truth Social earlier that year that read: “Democrats want to mask and rape your children. asserted
Democrats → share → children
That’s their satanic platform,” according to the report. uncertain
That → ’ → report
The new press secretary has also previously publicized her support of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that originated in 2017 as a result of Pizzagate. asserted
that → publicize → Pizzagate
The theory claims that Trump is secretly fighting a child-abuse group consisting of Democrats, Hollywood and “the deep state.” uncertain
Trump → claim → Democrats
The details of Trump’s apparent fight against pedophiles, according to believers, are revealed through coded messages from the president and online postings from an anonymous account known as Q. Zacharia responded to a Truth Social user in November 2022 who shared some thoughts on the theory: “Did you notice Trump drinking bottled water last night during his announcement? uncertain
Trump → accord → announcement
He drank at least 2-3 times. asserted
He → drink → times
I have not seen him do that at his speeches or rallies. asserted
him → see → speeches
It reminds me of Q posts 765, 767, and 847. asserted
It → remind → posts
Zacharia replied to the post, writing, “I was wondering the same thing…” When asked about Zacharia’s promotion of conspiracy theories, the White House referred The Independent to Trump’s Truth Social post announcing Zacharia’s appointment on Friday. Trump wrote that it was his “great honor” to name Zacharia as his latest press secretary. asserted
it → reply → secretary
The appointment fills a role that had been left vacant since August, when former press secretary Karoline Leavitt resigned to spend more time with her two young children. asserted
Leavitt → fill → children
“She was previously involved in my Campaigns, assisting in key Swing States, where we won 7 out of 7. asserted
we → involve → 7
She has an unblemished record of support, and has been a loyal and brilliant supporter, right from the beginning. asserted
She → have → beginning
She is, likewise, a devoted fan and member of MAGA,” Trump wrote in the post. asserted
Trump → write → post
“I am confident that Katie will deliver strong results for our Country as the next White House Press Secretary, as she has the respect of, and will work fantastically with, the Media, the American People, and my Administration.” asserted
she → deliver → respect
In addition to working for the president’s Trump Media and Technology Group, Zacharia, spent roughly a month working at the Department of Homeland Security as a spokesperson earlier this year, according to her LinkedIn. uncertain
Zacharia → work → LinkedIn
She has also been a longtime conservative commentator, writing an op-ed declaring Trump “the greatest president in U.S. history,” in The New York Post earlier this year. asserted
Trump → write → Post
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