A body language expert says one recurring habit from Katie Zacharia's brief stint as White House press secretary left viewers deeply unsettled.
Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. G, the online nickname for Dr. John Paul Garrison, said on his YouTube show "Dr. G Explains" that Zacharia kept flashing a smile throughout her only press briefing, even though she "clearly appears anxious." "Smiling like that does not match with the behavior at all," he said. "So it feels very strange."
Zacharia, who replaced Karoline Leavitt, was out after just five days following a shaky debut briefing, a tense Fox News interview with Sean Hannity and mounting questions about her qualifications, including her admission that she never passed the bar exam.
Dr. G said the smile served as "a very effective tool to hide how you actually feel," pointing out that it lacked the wrinkles around the eyes that typically show up when someone is genuinely happy.
The strain carried over into her Hannity interview, where the Fox News host pressed her to confirm she had not passed the bar. Zacharia answered, "Yes, Sean," which Dr. G said "came out a little bit awkward" because she was operating from "the emotional center of her brain." He also pointed to her "constant blinking," adding, "There's a lot of stress here."
When Zacharia told Hannity she went on to handle "multi-million dollar shareholder agreements" at a Chinese law firm, Dr. G was skeptical. "She couldn't even pass the bar and she's doing multi-million-dollar transactions. That just sounds very strange," he said. "I think that every time she spoke, it made people ask more questions."
He also zeroed in on a slip during her briefing, when Zacharia said, "My president, excuse me, my husband." Dr. G called it "a very odd mistake to make," but said it "may show just how much she likes President Trump."
Trump told reporters he had asked Zacharia, "Katie, is this for you?" but Dr. G argued the president was effectively ending her tenure. "He's framing it as though it's a question," he said. "It is not a question."