MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump drops his new press secretary after a week of controversy

She admitted that, although she graduated in law, she had not passed the bar exam, despite presenting herself as a lawyer for years

Katie Zacharia will leave her post as White House press secretary just five days after taking it up, according to advisers to President Donald Trump quoted by several US media outlets, following a widely criticised first briefing and the revelation that she had presented herself as a lawyer without passing the bar exam.

A White House official said Zacharia was “transitioning out” of the role. Before leaving for a campaign rally in Georgia, Trump told reporters he had suggested she reconsider staying on: “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. Katie, do you need this?” The president said she had been treated “very unfairly” by the media and that many people wanted the job.

Zacharia, appointed on October 9 to succeed Karoline Leavitt, held her first and only briefing on Tuesday, lasting 14 minutes, in which she was unable to answer a question about whether the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Days later she admitted that, although she graduated in law, she had not passed the bar exam, despite presenting herself as a lawyer for years.

Her tenure is shorter than the 11 days Anthony Scaramucci spent as Trump’s communications director in 2017.