Critics savage Trump's new press secretary after rocky first briefing

PoliticsWhite House press secretary Katie Zacharia speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)AP Photo/Julia Demaree NikhinsonBy Howard Koplowitz | hkoplowitz@al.comNew Trump White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is getting brutally poor reviews for her performance at her first news conference.Zacharia, the conservative commentator whom President Donald Trump picked Friday to replace Karoline Leavitt as press secretary, appeared nervous in her debut.She told reporters that she viewed her role as press secretary to be no different than the way she advocated for Trump while outside the government, the Associated Press reported.“I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply and expand upon President Trump’s incredible agenda for the American people,” she said.At one point, Zacharia made a verbal misstep while talking about her family, drawing widespread mockery from Trump administration critics.“The idea of not spending evenings with my kids is completely unacceptable,” she said. “So my president — excuse me, my husband. That’s a good one — my husband is out here for the week because we had two birthdays in our family and we are very protective of celebrating birthdays as a family.”Zacharia was clobbered over the gaffe.“Did she just say ‘my president’ rather than ‘my husband?’ Dude, oh my God,” liberal influencer Adam Mockler said in a video he shared on X.“She’s going to get FIRED for this ...” Mockler said in the post.“Holy s--- Katie Zacharia is terrible!!!!” added the Call to Activism account on X, offering the gaffe as an example.“She’s reading, she’s nervous, she’s lying. Trump will NOT be happy after seeing her performance!!” Call to Activism continued.Aaron Rupar, the Trump social media chronicler, savaged Zacharia.“Katie Zacharia’s first press briefing was brutally bad,” Rupar said in a social media post accompanied by grimacing emojis.“Trump managed to find a press secretary who can barely read, but she does have the number one qualification -- looking like Ivanka,” Rupar argued, referring to Trump’s daughter.Rupar shared a supercut of Zacharia’s debut, saying her performance “made Karoline Leavitt seem like Ronald Reagan.”While Zacharia was knocked by Trump critics, she got a glowing review from her boss.“I thought she was very good,” the president told reporters.Howard Koplowitz is AL.com's Breaking & Trending Reporter for afternoons and nights. He has been with AL.com since 2015 and has served in a variety of roles, ranging from coverage of Donald Trump's first...