Katie Zacharia’s five days as press secretary show how quickly a White House job can lose its shine

A brief and troubled tenure

Zacharia was dismissed Friday, less than a week after starting as White House press secretary. Her first days included a halting briefing-room performance, a dispute over her legal credentials and cleanup interviews that failed to restore confidence.

Her five-day tenure set a record for the shortest-serving White House press secretary. Anthony Scaramucci, a communications director in Trump’s first term, lasted 10 or 11 days; accounts differ on the exact figure. Scaramucci responded to the news Friday, saying, “Records are made to be broken.” He added that he took no pleasure in other people’s pain.

Press access under strain

Zacharia’s short stint came as the White House sought to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. A judge was still blocking the ban from taking effect earlier that week.

Her only briefing, on Tuesday, included questions from three outlets: Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail. The limited participation illustrated the reduced role of the press secretary, according to the report.

A sign of wider trouble

The episode may have little lasting significance beyond its record-setting length, but NBC’s Garrett Haake described it as a visible sign of a White House struggling to manage crises with the midterm elections only weeks away. The report said Trump had recently turned to false claims about the economy. It suggested that approach, like Zacharia’s tenure, was not going well.