After Katie Zacharia left her role as White House Press Secretary on Friday, just a week after taking the job, all the evening network newscasts covered the removal. But NBC Nightly News put a different frame on the ouster than the rest of the networks, and accused President Trump of removing “mostly women” from administration roles, effectively calling him a misogynist.
The opening of NBC’s report on Zacharia followed the same format as the other network newscasts. Anchor Tom Llamas labeled it a “stunning rise and fall,” while White House correspondent Garrett Haake said Zacharia was “out after a rocky five days on the job.”
Audio then played from Trump talking to reporters outside the White House in the afternoon and an exchange with NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez:
TRUMP: And I said, you should reconsider because you don't want to go through this.
GUTIERREZ: What do you want her to do?
TRUMP: I just want her to be happy.
On Friday’s NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent Garrett Haake accused Trump of only removing “mostly women” from admin positions after Katie Zacharia was ousted.
He mentioned Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard (who said she left because of her husband's bone cancer… pic.twitter.com/BXrNkhzJos— Nick (@nspin310) October 16, 2026
Haake then turned to a Zacharia interview on Fox News’s Hannity and Fox and Friends over the past day, before shifting to label Trump as a misogynist:
But now Zacharia joins a growing list of mostly women removed from the administration's top ranks, including attorney general Pam Bondi, DHS secretary Kristi Noem, intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, and ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Haake failed to note that Gabbard said she left her role due to her husband’s bone cancer diagnosis. He also did not mention the misconduct allegations against Guilfoyle, or the controversies faced by Bondi or Noem, largely driven by the elitist media. The “mostly women” line from Haake was completely unnecessary.
He then added details of the response from Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired after just 11 days as White House Communications Director, and Zacharia’s removal, as he wrote, “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.”
Llamas then connected the ouster to the midterms, while Haake mentioned there is no immediate candidate to fill the role. Haake also brought up Trump’s denial of reports he might fire White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Both ABC and CBS also highlighted Zacharia’s ouster, with a focus on her first briefing, Fox News interviews, and Anthony Scaramucci’s record being broken. They did not take the Garrett Haake route in framing Trump as a misogynist.
Here is ABC’s report with Rachel Scott: https://t.co/3hTB8uedul pic.twitter.com/ZKly7rarbo— Nick (@nspin310) October 17, 2026
Somewhat surprisingly, none of the other network newscasts took Haake’s line of attack.
ABC World News Tonight continued media attacks on Zacharia, as Rachel Scott proclaimed, “Tonight, the shortest tenure ever for a White House Press Secretary.” She also mentioned Scaramucci’s response and interviews on Fox News, before adding, “Tonight, sources tell me that Katie Zacharia will now transition into a different role in the administration.”
CBS followed the same route with a focus on Fox News interviews and other controversies, while playing former Trump Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields saying the knives were out for Zacharia from the beginning: pic.twitter.com/jLm58yIMfo
— Nick (@nspin310) October 17, 2026
Additionally, CBS Evening News described Zacharia’s tenure as “shaky” and played clips from recent Fox News interviews. In a unique moment among the reports, CBS showcased an interview with former Trump Deputy White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields.
Fields gave analysis of the removal and noted, “The knives seemed to be kind of out, in terms of the leaks that were coming out of the White House to some individuals in the press.”
The transcripts are below. Click "expand":
NBC Nightly News
October 16, 2026
6:38:50 PM Eastern
(...)
TOM LLAMAS: In Washington tonight, the stunning rise and fall of White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia, now out of the role less than a week after taking the job. Garrett Haake reports tonight from the White House.
[Cuts to report]
GARRETT HAAKE: Tonight, President Trump's Press Secretary, Katie Zacharia, is out after a rocky five days on the job, according to two senior administration officials. The president saying this afternoon he encouraged her to rethink continuing in the high-profile position he offered her just last week.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I said, you should reconsider because you don't want to go through this.
GABE GUTIERREZ: What do you want her to do?
TRUMP: I just want her to be happy.
HAAKE: Zachariah's lone press briefing Tuesday was widely panned.
KATIE ZACHARIA [From briefing]: My president - excuse me, my husband. That's a good one.
HAALE: And questions about her credentials, including past claims of being an attorney despite not having passed the bar exam, drew scrutiny even from longtime Trump allies like Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, whose program she appeared on last night.
SEAN HANNITY [To Zacharia] 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.
HAAKE: Less than 12 hours later, she appeared on Fox News again.
LAWRENCE JONES [To Zacharia]: Do you think you still have the confidence of the president?
ZACHARIA: I am standing here, and I was able to travel with him through all of the midterm convention or, excuse me, the midterm rallies.
HAAKE: But now Zacharia joins a growing list of mostly women removed from the administration's top ranks, including attorney general Pam Bondi, DHS secretary Kristi Noem, intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, and ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Anthony Scaramucci, whose role as communications director famously lasted just 11 days in the first Trump administration, posting about Zacharia. Quote: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.”
[Cuts back to live]
LLAMAS: All right. Garrett joins us now live from the White House. Garrett. So no press secretary in the midterms, just around the corner. Any idea of who's next?
HAAKE: Well, Tom, sources familiar with the president's thinking tell me not to expect him to name a new press secretary anytime soon. The president today also dismissed recent reporting that his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, might soon leave or be fired, saying there was, quote, zero chance he'd move to replace his top aide, Tom?
(...)
ABC World News Tonight
October 16, 2026
6:40:10 PM Eastern
DAVID MUIR: Tonight the new White House Press Secretary is out after just five days on the job. Rachel Scott at the White House.
[Cuts to report]
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, the shortest tenure ever for a White House Press Secretary.
ZACHARIA: Good morning!
SCOTT: At her first briefing, Katie Zacharia taking just three questions at the podium.
ZACHARIA: We are in the middle of the midterm blitz with energy and excitement never seen before in the history of midterms, thanks to President Trump.
(...)
6:41:45 PM Eastern
SCOTT: Zacharia setting a new record for a White House Press Secretary. Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted just 11 days as communications director in Trump's first term, today posting: “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.”
Tonight, sources tell me that Katie Zacharia will now transition into a different role in the administration. It’s unclear who will step in as the next White House Press Secretary. David?
(...)
CBS Evening News
October 16, 2026
6:36:59 PM Eastern
MAJOR GARRETT: To the White House now and the search for new press secretary, just days after the old one first stepped to the podium. Katie Zacharia got off to a shaky start, and also faced questions about her legal credentials. Here is chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes.
[Cuts to report]
TRUMP: She has suffered over the last few days.
NANCY CORDES: Just one week after he offered her the job, President Trump was offering his press secretary a way out.
TRUMP: And I said you should reconsider because you don't want to go through this.
CORDES: A few minutes later, staffers confirmed, Katie Zacharia was being eased out of her role after just one rocky briefing.
ZACHARIA: I'll have to get back to you on that.
CORDES: And a handful of interviews.
HANNITY: Am I hearing that you think the staff should have prepped you better?
ZACHARIA: Well, I believe that, in that time, I could have just given a brief intro.
CORDES: All week, Zacharia was dogged by questions about her decision to call herself a lawyer.
ZACHARIA: As a lawyer. [Cut] I am a lawyer.
HARRISON FIELDS: Because you can't become the story, as press secretary. Your job is to tell the story.
CORDES: Trump's former deputy press secretary, Harrison Fields, told CBS News the writing was on the wall.
FIELDS: The knives seemed to be kind of out, in terms of the leaks that were coming out of the White House to some individuals in the press.
CORDES: At five days, Zacharia's tenure was even briefer than former communications director Anthony Scaramucci, 11 days in Trump's first term. “Records are made to be broken,” Scaramucci posted today, “but I take no pleasure in other people's pain.”
White House aides say Zacharia will be moving to a new role, though they have not yet said what it is, and to underscore that there are no hard feelings, she has been invited to dine tonight with the vice president and second lady. Major?
(...)
