Katie Zacharia followed up her rocky debut earlier this week as newly-installed White House press secretary with an even less-than-stellar interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
HANNITY: You said you consulted with people who advised you it was okay to call yourself a lawyer but not an attorney, correct?
ZACHARIA: Correct
HANNITY: There’s a report out tonight showing 15 social media posts where you identify yourself as an attorney
ZACHARIA: I think they were retweets
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2026
Via Huffington Post:
Hannity described the press briefing as “widely panned,” noting it lasted 14 minutes and Zacharia took only three questions.
“What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time,” Zacharia said.
Hannity then moved on to the issue of Zacharia calling herself an attorney despite not being a member of any state bar.
“You said you consulted with many people and they advised you that it was okay to call yourself a lawyer but not an attorney, correct?” Hannity asked.
“Correct,” Zacharia said. Hannity then pointed to a CNN report that showed Zacharia had shared 15 social media posts identifying her as an attorney.
Then Hannity moved in for the kill.
“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 it?'” Hannity asked.
“Why get into this long, drawn out definition between the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Cuz I don’t think most people see much of a distinction. Why didn’t you just say, ‘I never practiced law’?”
I did not have Sean Hannity confronting her for calling herself a lawyer on my Bingo card.
Zacharia makes a point to say she was offered the job last Friday but since it was a holiday weekend she flew home to California and then returned to Washington for her debut.
My opinion: if you are offered the job of WH press secretary and you only have a few days to prep, you do not take a federal holiday and fly back home. You stay in DC and go into beast mode so you can hit a home-run your first day.
Wow — Hannity is moving in for the kill: “Why not just say ‘I went to Pepperdine Law School and then took a different career path’? Why get into this long drawn-out thing about the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?” https://t.co/xSMQxmbKsT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 16, 2026
Folks, when you’re less than a week on the job and you’ve already lost Hannity, you should know you’ve swerved into the underbrush on the way to Peoghkeepsie.
There’s more reporting over at the Washington Post that Trump apparently reached out to Zacharia about the position without consulting his top aides, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Here’s the full six minute crash and burn.
I have a feeling Donald Trump called Sean Hannity and told him to assassinate her.
And he did.
This is the entire interview with the soon to be fired Katie Zacharia. It’s worth it. https://t.co/lBBkGcM7vO
— Evan (@daviddunn177) October 16, 2026
Discover more from The Randy Report
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.