Katie Zacharia blames brief White House tenure on lack of prep

Katie Zacharia, who spent roughly five days as President Donald Trump's White House press secretary before her abrupt exit nearly two weeks ago, is now blaming her short stint on poor preparation. In an interview with the California Post, she said she received just a few hours of briefing materials the morning she first faced reporters, and described the lead-up as an inadequate "runway." She added that earlier press secretaries Kayleigh McEnany, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Ari Fleischer and Sean Spicer contacted her to offer sympathy, according to MS NOW.

MS NOW's Steve Benen argues the episode exposes deeper dysfunction. In his telling, Trump installed a conspiracy-minded commentator as the administration's public voice without real vetting, about three weeks before the midterm elections, then gave her almost no groundwork. He says a competent West Wing would have anticipated the failure. Benen also cites The Atlantic's Jon Chait, who tied her departure to other recent turmoil, including the firing of Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece.

Trump told reporters he expects Zacharia to stay in his administration in some form, but the California Post says she has hinted at new career news soon and intends to back Trump loudly from outside government.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →