U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had told Katie Zakaria, the controversial White House press secretary, that if she did not want to take on this high-profile job, she could reconsider.
Not long after Trump made the aforementioned remarks, The New York Times cited three unnamed sources who reported that Zakaria was dismissed from his position in less than a week.
"I just said to Katie two minutes ago, 'Katie, you know, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to,'" Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that Zakaria responded that the job was "much harder than she imagined."
Trump said, "I told her, 'To be honest, if I were in your position, I would reconsider. You can think about it, but if it were me, I would reconsider.'"
Zakaria is a conservative commentator and has repeatedly claimed to be a lawyer herself. She made her debut at a White House press briefing on Tuesday, but soon came under close scrutiny due to her legal qualifications.
On Thursday, Zakaria stated that she had taken the bar exam before but did not pass it, and since then, she has not taken it again.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Zakaria had received a "very bad" and "very unfair" treatment from the media.
The president said, “She has been treated very harshly, and she is a very good person, a truly wonderful person. I have been watching her on television for all these years, but I told her, ‘Is this really suitable for you, Katie? Because to be honest, you don’t need to go through this.’”
He also said, 'I would say that she was treated very harshly.'
