The White House was so dissatisfied with the debut press briefing given by new US presidential press secretary Katie Zachariah that it effectively threatened to fire her, according to the television channel MS Now, APA reports.
"It's not easy to hold a podium. But she started off on the wrong foot. She needs to improve quickly, or she'll break Scaramucci's record," a White House spokesman told the network. He was referring to Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired as White House communications director in July 2017, just 10 days after being appointed to the job.
Zecaria answered questions from only three journalists at her debut briefing. Her total interaction with the press was only about 14 minutes, including her opening remarks, which lasted nearly eight and a half minutes. This means that US President Donald Trump's new press secretary only answered questions for about five minutes. Meanwhile, regular White House and State Department briefings lasting about 45 minutes or more were often the norm rather than the exception in the past. Zecaria justified the briefing's brevity by citing Trump's work schedule and his potential interactions with reporters.
Trump himself, speaking to reporters after her first briefing, didn't criticize the press secretary, but he didn't elaborate. He merely noted that, in his opinion, Zecaria conducted the briefing "very well."
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