On Tuesday Katie Zacharia held her first White House press briefing as President Trump’s new Press Secretary, it quickly became a prime target for many in the liberal media. Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki took to her MS NOW show to crack wise: "Karoline Leavitt, wherever you are out there, I miss you.” On CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, former Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added her two cents, along with others.
Substitute host John Berman continued what CNN had been doing since the presser ended, as he segued from the resignation of Kimberly Guilfoyle from her post as U.S. ambassador to Greece, to the critique of Zacharia, utilizing what CNN seems to love, unnamed sources.
BERMAN: As we mentioned at the top, this was Katie Zacharia's debut press conference. And the reviews, even from some inside the White House, were pretty harsh. Brutal is how one official put it there.
After playing a short clip of Zacharia praising Trump, Berman turned to CNN's Chief WH Correspondent and anchor Kaitlan Collins, who was at the presser, and he eventually hit her up on Zacharia's performance, while making sure to set her up with, "And what are you hearing from your sources inside the White House"?
COLLINS: I've attended a lot of White House press briefings, John, and I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that... There were audible gasps in the room as she closed her binder and prepared to leave and said, those were all the questions she would be taking. After only taking three questions.
And then came the unnamed sources again.
COLLINS: And almost immediately, John, I was getting texts from people who work inside the Trump administration, inside the White House, who were surprised by how fleeting the appearance was.
And it soon got worse.
COLLINS: White House officials who know what Trump likes in a press secretary were texting me, predicting that she would not last in this position very long.
CNN's David Axelrod, surprisingly gave Zacharia the benefit of the doubt, saying he wanted, "To extend some grace to her", and blaming Trump for putting her out too soon, while turning to Jean-Pierre, who held the post from May 2022 to the end of Biden's term.
JEAN-PIERRE: It is one of the hardest jobs in Washington, D.C. And you have to prepare and it takes months and weeks sometimes, you know, longer than that, depending on when you come in to get ready for it....
I remember when I was White House press secretary, it took me four hours every day to prep with my team. You cannot just go in there and not prepare. And so, what I saw today was odd. I've never seen anything like this, right? She took, what, three or four questions, whatever it was, less than 15 minutes.
I mean, when we did press briefings, you were in there for 40 to 60 minutes. You took dozens of questions. Sometimes the same questions over and over again. And it is a difficult job. It is not easy and you have to be prepared. And even with all the preparation, you still have some mishaps.
Ah, mishaps, yes. So glad she brought that up. The woman who has referred to herself as, "an historic figure", was involved in plenty of battles with the White House media.
In 2023 Jean-Pierre had difficulty providing a satisfying answer to reports asking about Biden's decision to walk the picket line with UAW strikers in Michigan. In December 2024 she wanted nothing to do with a question from Fox News's Peter Doocy, about Biden going back on his promise not to pardon his son Hunter. In January 2025, she ducked a question on Biden's previous claims that white supremacy poses the biggest threat to the homeland. You can see many more instances documented by NewsBusters here.
Back to the show. After Axelrod stated that, "Everyone who works in the White House, is a senior level who speaks to the media, understands that you can send armies marching and markets tumbling." Jean-Pierre agreed.
JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly. I mean I used to worry about that, okay. I don't want to start any wars and I don't want to mess with the, you know, mess with the economy. And there are all these things that you're thinking about and trying to be incredibly purposeful and thoughtful about it. But it takes time and it takes preparation.
Does KJP really think she looked "incredibly purposeful and thoughtful"?
