And so Katie Zacharia joins the mayfly ranks of Liz Truss, Anthony Scaramucci, New Coke, CNN+ and Quibi.
asserted
Zacharia → join → Truss
To say she burned twice as bright and half as long would be too kind.
asserted
she → say → ?
She went out like a firework on a soggy night.
asserted
She → go → night
The White House confirmed on Friday that Zacharia is leaving her role as press secretary after just five days on the job.
asserted
Zacharia → confirm → job
No one was surprised after a lacklustre press briefing debut and scrutiny over her legal credentials.
asserted
one → surprise → credentials
But even more importantly, Zacharia lived by the sword and died in the one arena that Donald Trump truly cares about: television.
asserted
Trump → live → that
She reportedly got the job by closely monitoring the US president’s public schedule and tracked his active hours on Truth Social to predict exactly when he would be watching TV.
uncertain
he → get → TV
She then timed her own appearances on air to make sure she caught his eye.
asserted
she → time → eye
The fact that she fitted the glossy blond aesthetic from what Trump calls “central casting” also helped.
asserted
Trump → fit → what
But TV also proved her undoing.
asserted
TV → prove → ?
On Thursday, Zacharia gave a series of interviews to Trump-friendly outlets in a desperate bid for redemption.
asserted
Zacharia → give → redemption
Instead, she sealed her own fate with more hapless performances.
asserted
she → seal → performances
She must have expected Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has even spoken at Trump rallies, to give her an easy ride.
asserted
who → expect → ride
But even he was sceptical when she admitted she had “stepped up to the plate with very little prep time” for the first briefing.
asserted
she → admit → briefing
Hannity asked: “Am I hearing that you think the staff should have prepped you better?”
asserted
staff → ask → you
Zacharia rejected the notion that she had only taken questions from conservative outlets, incorrectly asserting that the Daily Mail is “not known to be a conservative outlet”.
asserted
Mail → reject → outlets
Hannity also quizzed her about her dubious legal credentials.
asserted
Hannity → quiz → credentials
“Why not just say, ‘I went to Pepperdine law school, and then took a different career path, and I took the bar once and didn’t pass?’”
asserted
I → say → bar
Zacharia tried again on Fox & Friends but ran into host Lawrence Jones, who said: “You know, Katie, it’s been a tough week for you.
asserted
it → try → you
It’s not an easy job to be the press secretary and you never want to be the story.”
asserted
you → ’ → ?
He also asked: “Do you think you still have the confidence of the president?”
asserted
you → ask → president
Zacharia responded, “I’m standing here,” referring to the fact that she was speaking from the White House north lawn.
asserted
she → respond → lawn
Her exit hours later was met with widespread ridicule – and a measure of human compassion for someone whom Trump had subjected to a very public humiliation.
asserted
Trump → meet → humiliation
Scaramucci, who lasted only 11 days as White House communications director during Trump’s first term, tweeted: “Records are made to be broken.
asserted
Records → last → term
But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain.”
asserted
I → take → pain
Joe Lockhart, a former White House press secretary under Bill Clinton, said in a phone interview: “It’s hard to generate sympathy for this woman, but there was no way for her to succeed.
asserted
her → say → woman
It takes years to be ready to do that job.
asserted
It → take → job
I spent 20 years preparing for my first briefing from the very first campaign I did.
asserted
I → spend → campaign
It was very unfair for her, but very bad judgment on her part to think she could wander out there and smile.”
uncertain
she → think → part
During his 2015 presidential campaign, he promised that he would only hire “the best people”, comparing his future administration to corporate boardrooms.
asserted
he → promise → boardrooms
His first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned after 23 days.
asserted
adviser → resign → days
His second term has featured incompetents such as Kristi Noem, fired as homeland security secretary after multiple controversies, Robert F Kennedy Jr, a health secretary who spent years promoting anti-scientific claims about vaccine safety, and Pete Hegseth, a defence secretary who bungled the Iran war and announced a livestreamed execution only to be overruled by his boss.
uncertain
who → feature → boss
Kurt Bardella, a political commentator, said: “It shows the limitations of the president making decisions like this based solely on, ‘oh, I liked watching this clip of her on this segment in the most friendly environment possible.’
asserted
I → say → environment
We’ve seen this time and again with this president selecting figures for very meaningful, important and substantive positions solely based on cable news, and just look at how the war in Iran is going to know that ain’t working out too good.”
asserted
that → see → Iran
Trump also entrusted tech bro Elon Musk to take a chainsaw to the federal government.
asserted
Trump → entrust → government
His choice of personnel has had damaging consequences for US institutions.
asserted
choice → have → institutions
Lockhart added: “It one more time shows how Trump cheapens everything he touches.
asserted
he → add → everything
He wants everything to be in his image.
asserted
everything → want → image
He tears down the East Wing.
asserted
He → tear → Wing
He puts his name on the Kennedy Center.
asserted
He → put → Center
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
