Critics are doubling down on their predictions of a short tenure for President Donald Trump's new press secretary after a rough night on friendly turf.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia sat down with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, and he wasted little time pressing her on her claims to be an attorney despite no evidence that she has ever passed a bar exam or been admitted to practice law in any state.
Zacharia told Hannity she had been advised it was fine to call herself a lawyer but not an attorney. Hannity then confronted her with a report identifying 15 social media posts in which she called herself an attorney. "I think they were retweets," Zacharia replied.
The exchange spread quickly online after independent journalist Aaron Rupar shared a clip, declaring that Zacharia "crashes and burns" on, of all places, Hannity's show. Rupar also needled anyone betting she'd last "more than one Scaramucci," a nod to Anthony Scaramucci's famously brief 11-day run as Trump's White House communications director in 2017.
Scaramucci himself stepped in to take the other side of that wager. "She will make it. I have the over," he shot back on X.
Few others shared his optimism. Will Sommer, a reporter for The Bulwark, called it "the toughest interview I've ever seen Sean Hannity give to a Republican."
Journalist Yashar Ali read the tone as a signal from the top, arguing it was "very difficult to imagine" Hannity taking that approach unless he knew it was what Trump and others "would be ok with or wanted."
Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), didn't mince words. "Brutally bad. Don't think she is going to have a long tenure in this job," he warned.
Tahra Hoops, director of economic analysis at the Chamber of Progress, gave Zacharia until morning to announce she'd rather raise her family in private and support Trump "from afar," an apparent nod to former press secretary Karoline Leavitt's stated reason for resigning.
Texas attorney Adam Loewy lamented the state of things. "This is so pathetic. The bar has been lowered so much the last 10 years," he added.
Anti-disinformation activist Jim Stewartson confessed he "tapped out" just 45 seconds into the interview, then turned his fire on the president, arguing Trump had once again sabotaged himself with "a terrible decision driven by his own narcissism."
Judd Legum, whose newsletter Popular Information searched all 50 states plus D.C. and found no evidence Zacharia was admitted to practice law anywhere, summed up his reaction in a single word. "Wow."