Karoline Leavitt weighs in on Katie Zacharia's 5 day press secretary stint with brutal comment
Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has weighed in on her successor's short tenure in the job.
Katie Zacharia lasted less than a week in the gig after Donald Trump suggested she step down.
The president told Zacharia that she might want to change her mind about the job, and said he thought she had been treated unfairly by the press.
He told reporters outside the White House last week: "I said, ‘Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider’. I said, ‘You think about it, but I would reconsider.'"
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Soon after it was confirmed Zacharia had left the position as White House press secretary, with the 42-year-old spending just five days in the job.
Leavitt, who Zacharia replaced in the high-profile White House role, has since spoken to Fox News and claimed Zacharia was not the right person for the position.
She went on to say that being the president's spokesperson 'takes a lot of preparation and sometimes you don’t know how someone will perform until they go out there'.
Leavitt added: "We wish Katie the best. The job obviously was not for her, but we wish her and her family well."
The former White House press secretary went on to tell Fox News that she is assisting Trump with finding a replacement for Zacharia, though the New York Post notes that an appointment is not expected until after next month's midterm elections.
Describing the role as 'one of the hardest jobs in politics', Leavitt went on to say: "I’ve offered my help to the president to help him select someone who can serve him and the country well.
"I’ll keep my private counsel to the president private, but I do obviously talk to him about what the job entails, and he knows it very well.
"Nobody understands the press better than Donald Trump. He knows he needs someone who is tough, who is smart, who understands his policies, who is loyal, and who can go out there and put up a fight.
"There’s plenty of people who want the job. It’s just up to the president to make that decision."
Leavitt stepped down from the position of White House press secretary in August so she could spend more time with her family, including her two children.
Meanwhile, after leaving the position, Zacharia took to X to address her short tenure.
She penned: "President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man. I wish more Americans appreciated him. No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to.
"It was an honor to work for him."
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Callum Jones