Trump’s New Press Secretary Is an Incompetent Liar. She’s Also Perfect for the Job.
This story is adapted from the Slatest newsletter. You can sign up here to get it in your inbox every day.
There are two types of press secretaries in a Donald Trump administration: Those who lie slickly and those who lie embarrassingly. So far, Katie Zacharia, who debuted as the White House’s top spokesperson on Tuesday, is looking like the latter.
The opening days of Zacharia’s tenure have been defined by questions over claims she has made about her background. She has a law degree from Pepperdine University (go Waves!) and has publicly identified herself as the “general counsel” for Fix California, a right-wing nonprofit. Trump has described Zacharia as an “attorney,” as did chyrons for TV appearances that Zacharia amplified on social media, CNN reports. Asked about her legal background on Tuesday, Zacharia claimed to have passed the bar “when I moved to China,” where she has also said she worked at a large Chinese law firm and as “outside counsel” to the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. But foreign nationals aren’t allowed to take the bar in China, nor can they practice Chinese law. (She subsequently claimed to have misunderstood the reporter’s question.) The other shoe dropped last night, when the Wall Street Journal reported she has not passed the bar in the U.S., a revelation Zacharia seemingly confirmed on Thursday.
But if Zacharia did misleadingly airbrush her credentials, it might make her the ideal........
