The media were quick to disparage new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia after her first press briefing, including Joe Biden's subpar spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, and then their focus turned to Zacharia's claim that she is a lawyer, even though she had not passed the bar exam.
When she appeared on Hannity on Thursday night, most would have expected a sympathetic session, but instead, Sean Hannity firmly questioned her like it was a test, a second briefing opportunity. It became the beginning of the end. The networks happily played the clips.
Hannity got right to the point, lumping the briefing and the bar exam in his very first question.
HANNITY: You had your first moment as press secretary. It's been widely panned. I'm sure you're aware. It only lasted 14 minutes. You only took three questions. Questions about your legal background, calling yourself a lawyer. You went to Pepperdine Law School but did not pass the bar exam, correct?
ZACHARIA: Correct.
HANNITY: What happened? How did you feel it went personally?
She began by addressing the press briefing, and the whirlwind that led to it.
ZACHARIA: I got a phone call last Wednesday. I flew out to D.C. on Thursday. I had a meeting on Friday, was offered the job. Flew home to California on Saturday. Flew back to Washington on Sunday. Was asked to start on Monday, Sean, which is Columbus Day, and so it's a federal holiday, and have a press briefing at 9:30 in the morning on Tuesday. So what I feel is I really stepped up and to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time.
She said she received briefing materials on Tuesday morning, and recounted her praise of President Trump, and her breaking the news that the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle had been asked to resign, before defending taking only 3 questions, and her choice of questioners.
ZACHARIA: They said I only took questions from conservative outlets. However, the Daily Mail is not known to be a conservative outlet or friendly to conservatives. So I do challenge that narrative. And then as I should have, I ended the conference.
I left as I believe given the fact that I had been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day.
Hannity then asked a question whose answer had the potential to be very problematic for Zacharia, that her president and his staff threw her to the wolves.
HANNITY: Am I hearing that you think the staff should have prepped you better?
ZACHARIA: I could have just given a brief intro and said I'm only here to introduce myself.... I however have been on the job one day and I now need to, instead of taking questions, probably should have stepped aside.
Next, Hannity went back to the issue of her claiming to be a lawyer. After she admitted not having passed the bar exam after Pepperdine, he asked if she has taken it a second time, and she responded with background instead. She noted she graduated and got married the same week, took the bar, even though she knew she'd be moving to China, where she got a job with a Chinese law firm. So Hannity tried again.
HANNITY: I want to ask you specifically. I know that's part of the story, and you did do all of that. But did you ever take the bar exam a second time or third time?
ZACHARIA: No, I did not.
HANNITY: So you said you consulted with many people and they advised you it was okay to call yourself a lawyer but not an attorney, correct?
ZACHARIA: Correct.
HANNITY: There's a report out tonight that showed 15 social media posts where you identify yourself as an attorney.
ZACHARIA: I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said it's not endorsing the title. They were retweets of a title that had been given.
That wasn't true. The networks happily dug out video clips. Hannity continued to press on the issue.
HANNITY: Why not just say I went to Pepperdine Law School and then took a different career path, and I took the bar once and didn't pass it. Why get into this long drawn out definition between the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?.... Why didn't you just say I never practiced law?
Not letting up at all, Hannity asked why only three questions in 14 minutes, and she basically said that going forward, she will be ready for more. But as she tried to say that, Fox played up the your-segment-is-over music, which would signal the guest it's time to finish your sentence and go home.
CNN's Brian Stelter happily summarized the "chilly" interview: "Hannity sounded like he was belatedly vetting Zacharia for the job — unintentionally highlighting Trump's lack of vetting."
