White House official calls Katie Zacharia’s first press briefing ‘brutal’

CNN · PBS NewsHour, PBS NewsHour and NBC News report that Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, used a debut briefing on Tuesday to announce that the administration has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, to resign amid misconduct allegations. The appearance came weeks before the midterm elections, and its opening statement centered on the administration's midterm message.

PBS NewsHour adds that Zacharia started Monday, succeeding Karoline Leavitt, and arrives from a communications post at Trump Media & Technology Group and is a conservative commentator. Zacharia described the job as continuing to amplify President Donald Trump's agenda, pledged to keep the new media seat, and gave the opening question to Breitbart News.

CNN · PBS NewsHour reports that several officials and advisers rated the performance poorly, one calling it "brutal," and questioned how long Zacharia will last. The session ran about 15 minutes with three questioners, against roughly 45 minutes for Leavitt's average briefing. Zacharia ended it early, citing Trump's departure for Alaska. Trump, however, said afterward that Zacharia was "very good."

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · PBS NewsHour, PBS NewsHour and NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · PBS NewsHour → Also at PBS NewsHour → Also at NBC News →