DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris takes away from this sudden departure the return of the chaos of the 2017-2021 years at the White House, a spokesperson ousted in five days after a first week deemed catastrophic.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Katie Zacharia stepped down from her post on Friday, October 16, five days after taking office, a high-ranking US official confirmed to AFP.
- 02
Her first briefing, on Tuesday, October 13, lasted less than 15 minutes with three questions, compared to about 45 minutes for Karoline Leavitt.
- 03
On Thursday, October 15, she essentially acknowledged failing the bar exam; Beijing invited her on Friday to visit China more often.
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 16, 2026. The French press is telling the story of a sudden downfall. According to France 24, Katie Zacharia left her post on Friday, October 16, a confirmation given to the AFP by a high-ranking American official after a report by Fox News. Donald Trump himself had invited her to "reconsider" her position: "Katie, is it over for you?" he asked journalists. France 24 notes that this departure "recalls the chaos and the turnover of advisors" during his first term, and that the record of Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired in 2017 after just eleven days, has been "largely beaten".
The story lingers on the beginnings. On Tuesday, October 13, the first briefing lasted less than fifteen minutes, with only three questions, when her predecessor Karoline Leavitt used to spend about 45 minutes facing the press, recalls BFMTV. HuffPost France emphasizes a text read slowly, eyes fixed on the podium, and a slip-up confusing her "husband" with the "president". On Thursday, October 15, facing Sean Hannity on Fox News, she pleaded that she had received her file just eight hours before the press conference.
Le Monde devotes an article to her legal background. Katie Zacharia has half-admitted to failing the bar exam while claiming the right to call herself a "lawyer", playing on the terms "attorney", "lawyer", and "general counsel". The newspaper specifies that it was Donald Trump who introduced her as an "attorney", and cites the American Bar Association, which states that a "lawyer" must have passed a state bar exam in most states.
The Chinese sequence, relayed by BFMTV and 20 Minutes, provides a touch of irony. On Real America's Voice, she had said that China didn't even have "decent toilets". BFMTV recalls that Donald Trump had promised Xi Jinping a "fabulous future" during his visit in May. On Friday, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, responded with a smile: "We invite her to come to China more often."
French media finally insist on the method: the interviews in the conservative press, intended to correct the situation, "had the opposite effect". According to Le Monde, Donald Trump claimed that the spokesperson had been "very badly treated" by the press.
SOURCES (5)
- 20 MinutesMEDIUM
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
- BFMTVMEDIUM
