President Donald Trump has tapped former Department of Homeland Security public affairs official Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary, a choice that caught current and former DHS officials who had worked with Zacharia off guard.
Zacharia, 41, worked for several weeks earlier this year as deputy spokeswoman for the 270,000-person federal department before abruptly leaving her post around the time then-Secretary Kristi Noem and special government employee Corey Lewandowski left.
One DHS official who worked with Zacharia during her stint wrote in a text message to the Washington Examiner that she was “full on MAGA” but “she didn’t know DHS enough to be an effective (or accurate) communicator.”
“Seems [too] timid to live up to the challenges of the job but I wish her the best of the luck,” the DHS official said.
The Daily Mail reported in March that Zacharia was brought in by Lewandowski in mid-February and “quit” in late March “amid fears she would be fired due to her alliance with” Lewandowksi.
Shortly after her departure, the White House pushed Noem and Lewandowski out of the department amid scandals connected to the department’s purchases of a luxury airplane, advertising, and immigrant detention contracts.
Zacharia’s background is as a conservative attorney, former attorney for the World Bank in China, and Republican political campaigns. She stepped on as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS following the abrupt departure of assistant secretary for public affairs, Tricia McLaughlin. She was hired to be the “on-camera face of Trump’s immigration crackdown,” according to the Daily Mail.
Zacharia has branded herself as a Fox News commentator, which is a paid position, and has the position listed on her LinkedIn profile as of Friday.
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Fox News told the Daily Mail in March that Zacharia was not a commentator for the network, but that she had appeared as a guest.
The White House did not respond to a request for clarification about Zacharia’s Fox News claim.