Ousted Press Secretary Katie Zacharia melts down in BBC interview

Katie Zacharia, who briefly served as White House press secretary last month, repeatedly redirected questions about the 2026 midterm election results during an interview on the BBC’s “Newsnight,” focusing instead on an ongoing Senate race in Alaska.During the interview, presenter Victoria Derbyshire asked Zacharia about statements made by President Donald Trump following election losses that handed control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to Democrats.Derbyshire noted that Trump had initially expressed a desire to work with congressional Democrats before raising concerns about election integrity days later.In response, Zacharia raised questions about the Senate contest in Alaska, where the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, faces a challenge from Mary Peltola, a Democrat, as well as an independent candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan."Do you think that Dan Sullivan in Alaska is fair?" Zacharia asked.During an appearance on the BBC program ‘Newsnight,’ former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia avoided questions regarding the 2026 midterm election results, focusing instead on a disputed Senate race in Alaska (Getty)Derbyshire questioned why Vice President JD Vance did not cite the Alaska contest in a recent social media post attributing the Republican Party’s midterms performance to the war in Iran."Why didn’t JD Vance mention the Sullivans and Alaska?" Derbyshire asked. "Does questioning if the election was honest mean that the president is now at odds with his vice president, who clearly said, in a long social media post, it was because of the Iran war, why Republicans lost?"Zacharia said that Derbyshire was avoiding the subject of the Alaska ballot structure."You don’t want to answer the question because you know it’s not fair," Zacharia said. "You know that, that was a set-up! It is so clearly a set-up, and that is why it is being investigated right now. “And that should be across the pond being questioned just as much as anywhere else in the world. This is not some random obscurity. This is two Dan Sullivans that were on the ballot in Alaska."The former press secretary repeatedly pointed to Alaska’s contentious Senate race, where incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan shares the ballot with an independent candidate of the same name (Getty)Republicans have asserted that the presence of the independent candidate was intended to confuse voters. Allegations of Democratic involvement in the independent candidate’s campaign have been denied. As ballot counting continued Wednesday morning with 84 percent of votes tabulated, Peltola’s lead exceeded the combined vote totals of both other candidates on the ballot.When Derbyshire attempted to return to Vance’s comments regarding the Iran conflict, Zacharia asked: "Who put Dan S. Sullivan on that ballot? Who did that?"She added: "The New York Times had an answer. Did you read that? Did you read what The New York Times came out with? Yes or no?"Zacharia also addressed potential policy differences within the administration.“The president has been very clear; there is not any kind of ‘at odds’ right now,” she said. “He made those statements very clear, both in his interview and across the board. Any kind of insinuation that there’s this massive division happening is not actually understanding the relationship between the president and the vice president.”Asked why President Donald Trump transitioned from pledging cooperation with Democrats to raising election integrity concerns, Zacharia described him as the ‘fighter in chief’ regardless of the outcome (Reuters)The exchange also covered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was the subject of an impeachment resolution introduced by Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, over the administration’s authorization of military action in Iran. House Republicans voted 211 to 204 on Tuesday to refer the eight articles of impeachment to committee, effectively blocking the measure from reaching the House floor.In the interview, recorded prior to the vote, Derbyshire asked whether Hegseth should resign to relieve political pressure on the White House."Pete Hegseth should absolutely not resign," Zacharia said. "He’s been a wonderful secretary of war, and he absolutely did what any other secretary of war or secretary of defense would do in these circumstances."She added: "And history will prove that not only President Trump, but also Secretary Hegseth will be thanked for ensuring the U.K. and the rest of the world won’t have to deal with nuclearized Iran."Zacharia served five days as press secretary in October before being replaced following a 14-minute briefing (AFP/Getty)Derbyshire also asked whether the midterm results indicated that Trump had lost political momentum. Zacharia rejected the characterization, citing historical trends where the sitting president's party typically loses congressional seats during midterm cycles."Regardless of the outcome, he is the fighter in chief," Zacharia said, describing the midterms as "not even a setback" for the president. "Absolutely not a loser,” she said. Zacharia served five days as press secretary in October before being replaced following a 14-minute briefing in which she took questions from three news organizations. The position has remained vacant since Karoline Leavitt stepped down in August.