Karoline Leavitt weighs in on 5-day tenure of successor Katie Zacharia

Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt weighed in on her successor Katie Zacharia’s five-day stint in the role, noting the job “obviously was not for her.” “Look, White House press secretary is a tough job. I know that because I did it,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Many people say it’s one of the hardest jobs in politics. It takes a lot of preparation. Sometimes you don’t know how someone will perform until they go out there,” she said. “As the president said, we wish Katie the best. The job obviously was not for her.” Leavitt, who left the role in August after giving birth to her second child, said that she has been trying to help President Donald Trump in his search for Zacharia’s replacement. “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 that he needs someone who is tough, who is smart, who understands his policies, who is loyal and can go out there and put up a fight,” she said. Karoline Leavitt said her successor, Katie Zacharia, was not fit for the role of White House press secretary (AFP/Getty)Zacharia, a former Homeland Security spokesperson and Newsmax contributor, took over as press secretary on October 12. Leavitt, who was Trump’s press secretary for the entire second term, starting in January 2025, stepped back in August to spend more time with her young children. Upon announcing Zacharia’s appointment, Trump hailed her as a “loyal and brilliant supporter.”Despite the hype, Zacharia fell short during her first briefing October 13, which lasted a measly 14 minutes. During that time, she awkwardly read from prepared remarks, accidentally referred to her husband as “my president” and took questions from only three journalists. The lackluster performance drew backlash from Trump critics and administration officials. Within five days, she had been fired. Her vacancy comes with midterm elections less than two weeks away — and as polls suggest Republicans may face major losses. Katie Zacharia was fired just five days into her role as White House press secretary (AFP/Getty)“President Trump and his team are focused on the midterm elections,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told The Independent earlier this week. “The President is the best messenger and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party and he will continue crisscrossing the country to share his commonsense, America First agenda directly with the American people.”Several names have been floating around — and betted on — for Zacharia’s replacement. The two top candidates seem to be Anna Kelly, the current White House principal deputy press secretary, CNN’s MAGA pundit Scott Jennings and Elizabeth Pipko, a former model who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign. Kelly is currently the frontrunner to succeed Zacharia, according to Kalshi bettors.The former beauty queen has a 15 percent chance of getting the role, while Jennings has a 13 percent. He was widely considered to be favorite for the role when Trump sought to replace then-outgoing Secretary Karoline Leavitt and reportedly privately campaigned for the position.