Trump insider who arranged Hannity ambush interview revealed as 'half a Scaramucci' coinage mocks Zacharia's five-day tenure
Laughter erupts in the briefing room as Katie Zacharia cuts short her debut White House press conference after accepting just three pre-selected questions in 14 minutes.
The figure behind a television grilling widely seen as a "sanctioned hit" on Katie Zacharia has been identified, as Washington wags coined a new unit of political brevity — "half a Scaramucci" — to mark her five-day stint as White House press secretary. Zacharia's troubles began at a debut briefing that lasted just 14 minutes and took only three questions, before a subsequent grilling by Sean Hannity over her legal credentials led her to acknowledge she had never cleared the bar exam.
Chief of staff Susie Wiles reportedly arranged the Hannity interview, with one source describing it as a "sanctioned hit" that sealed Zacharia's fate.
The "half a Scaramucci" nickname was coined by a CBS White House reporter, drawing a comparison with Anthony Scaramucci's 11-day stint in 2017.
Zacharia was mid-interview with the Wall Street Journal in the West Wing when she was dismissed.
Even after being sacked, she praised Trump as "a kind, wonderful, gracious" man.
