Katie Zacharia started Monday. By Friday, she was fired as White House press secretary. Five days.
I’ve spent longer deciding whether to return something to Costco.
I watched her with Hannity Thursday night, and honestly, I felt awful. He looked to me like he was offering her a rope. Here, take this. Answer the question. We can get through this.
She couldn’t grab it.
Now those interviews are going to follow her around forever. Five days of employment. A lifetime supply of reaction GIFs.
Democrats will get their clips. Everybody will get their jokes. I’m sitting here getting more pissed off the longer I think about how she ended up out there.
Walk me through the process.
You have a vacancy. Important job. Speaking for the president of the United States. Probably worth checking a few things.
You review the background. Ask some questions. Practice a briefing. Have somebody push back a little. See what happens when the answer takes more than enthusiasm.
Then you prepare the person. Policies. Names. Likely questions. Who to call when something changes.
Somewhere in there, presumably, somebody decides she’s ready.
According to AP, Zacharia said she hadn’t been fully briefed before her debut and hadn’t been asked about passing the bar before being hired.
Excellent. We can save time on the interview and let Hannity handle it afterward.
She owns her answers. She accepted the position. She has responsibility for what she told people about her background.
The people who put her behind that podium own something too.
I spent eleven years in ophthalmology administration. Nicole and I spent eight years running a childcare center. When you put someone in a position they can’t handle, you get to participate in the discussion about what went wrong.
Especially when you’re the one who decided they could handle it.
Apparently, the federal government offers a more generous management package.
Mike Waltz was removed as national security adviser after the Signal mess involving a journalist accidentally included in discussions of impending strikes in Yemen. Trump then announced plans to nominate him as ambassador to the United Nations.
Please collect your belongings. We’re considering you for another extremely important job.
This week, Kimberly Guilfoyle was asked to resign as ambassador to Greece following allegations involving money, favors and access to administration officials. She denies wrongdoing. Those allegations still need to be established.
Another vacancy. Another round of questions about what happened while someone was representing our country.
Then there’s Kash Patel.
I’ve listened to that man and wondered who heard him and thought, fuck yeah, give that guy a potato gun and bags of fucking potatoes.
We gave him the FBI.
During the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s killing, Patel announced that the person responsible was in custody. Local officials contradicted him. The FBI later clarified that two people had been questioned and released. Hours of confusion followed.
Maybe confirm the arrest before the victory lap. Put that on the orientation sheet.
These are serious jobs. People spend entire careers developing the judgment to do them. We have every right to expect that judgment from the people selected.
Instead, we’re spending our time sorting through who’s leaving, who’s moving, who needs another chance and who meant something entirely different from what they just said.
How many personnel disasters before the performance review moves upstairs?
That’s where I keep coming back with Zacharia. Somebody should have assessed her readiness before the whole country got to watch. Somebody should have made sure she had what she needed.
Now she gets to carry those five days around for years.
The Washington Post reports that Trump selected her with minimal vetting, surprising senior staff.
There it is.
We should probably get somebody with real authority involved. Somebody who can examine these appointments, demand better preparation and hold the person making these decisions accountable.
Maybe the president.
He could start with one question.
Who the fuck keeps hiring these people?
Oh.
EDW•
