White House insiders “frantically” began texting each other during new press secretary Katie Zacharia’s first briefing Tuesday, fearing it made the administration look like it was in complete disarray, according to the Daily Mail.
The Mail reported that some sources believe the new face of the administration "was set up to fail." More than half a dozen Trump officials told the paper they suspect Zacharia was sent into the briefing room "with no preparation."
“She looked as if she was handed a sheet of paper at the last minute and wasn’t prepared properly,” a Trump world source confided. “So who in the building wanted to see her fail?”
The Mail wrote that Zacharia’s colleagues started “knifing” her before she had even left the podium, and that insiders texted the paper that the briefing was a “car crash.” “I feel badly for her... her kids and family watching,” one source said. A senior Trump communications official called the briefing “terrible on so many different levels,” and another called it “embarrassing.” A GOP communications expert sent a single dumpster fire emoji. The Mail wrote that people Zacharia will have to work with daily were “plunging blades into her back,” firing off messages to reporters that were “far harsher.”
The briefing lasted a mere 14 minutes and started 15 minutes late and Zacharia took questions from only three reporters, and when asked whether the U.S. had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, she said, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” She also announced that Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle had been asked to resign.
The Mail said it previously reported that Trump hired Zacharia on the spur of the moment, without consulting Chief of Staff Susie Wiles or any vetting. The rift from that decision, the paper wrote, is now spilling onto the podium.
“Her hiring and the briefing shows this White House is collapsing now that they’re facing real pressure,” a senior Trump administration official told the Mail. “They have no idea who to hire. We’re entering wartime and they’re completely unequipped.”
The official added that Zacharia “should have gone on longer and had substantive answers ready,” and that she “could barely read.”