Hochul's office mocks Katie Zacharia with Aaron Rodgers injury post despite governor's press secretary scandal

Read the original at Fox News ↗
Fox News · collected 2026-10-13 · by Jackson Thompson

Quick Summary

Kathy Hochul's office in New York posted an image of Aaron Rodgers entering a game before sustaining a season-ending injury on September 11, 2023, shortly after White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia made her debut. This post was seen as a jab at Zacharia’s introduction, given the history of sexual harassment allegations against Hochul's former press secretary Avi Small, who resigned in July 2025 following an investigation into inappropriate behavior. The article highlights how this social media maneuver by Hochul’s team has drawn criticism for its timing and context.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-13, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's press office posted a photo of Aaron Rodgers' entrance before the Jets game, where he suffered a season-ending injury on September 11, 2023. This post was shared alongside a White House announcement about new Press Secretary Katie Zacharia’s debut. Many social media users criticized this move because Hochul's own press secretary had resigned last year due to sexual harassment allegations. Hochul defended her administration's handling of the scandal by stating that they acted promptly and changed their culture when necessary, but the timing of the post was seen as insensitive given Zacharia’s recent appointment.

Written for “Katie Zacharia Scandal” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 77803: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-13

Story

📰 Katie Zacharia Scandal
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 22% hedged 2 of 9 📰 publisher trust 72
“The articles describe different events involving Katie Zacharia: one is about her appointment as White House press secretary, while the other is about New York Governor Hochul's office mocking Zacharia's debut.”
TIME
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 20% hedged 1 of 5 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A reports on Katie Zacharia being tapped for the role of White House press secretary, while Article B discusses a subsequent mocking post by New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office regarding Zacharia's new position.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 2 of 14 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles mention Katie Zacharia as the new White House press secretary, they describe different events: Article A reports on her selection and offer of the role, while Article B discusses a mocking post by New York's governor regarding her debut.”
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 61
“The articles describe different events: one is about Katie Zacharia being offered a White House press secretary role, while the other describes New York Governor Hochul's office mocking her debut with a reference to Aaron Rodgers' injury.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 3 of 66 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different events involving Katie Zacharia: one about her appointment as press secretary and another about a mocking post related to her debut.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 5% hedged 2 of 38 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes Katie Zacharia's awkward press conference debut, while Article B reports on New York Governor Hochul's office mocking this event through social media.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 9% hedged 5 of 57 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different events: Article A reports on Katie Zacharia's debut as White House press secretary, while Article B describes New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office mocking this debut with a photo post.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 20 📰 publisher trust 59
“Article A describes Governor Kathy Hochul's office mocking Katie Zacharia's debut as White House press secretary, while Article B covers Zacharia's actual briefing and interaction with journalists.”

Cite this article

Thompson, J. (2026, October 13). Hochul's office mocks Katie Zacharia with Aaron Rodgers injury post despite governor's press secretary scandal. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/hochul-office-mocks-katie-zacharia-aaron-rodgers-injury-post-despite-governor-press-secretary-scandal

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
70/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-13 · how these are computed

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Fox News · 3972 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jackson Thompson
37 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Jackson Thompson
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Topics

Democratic Hochul Jets New York White House

Subjects

Hochul ORG · 7× Trump PERSON · 5× Zacharia PERSON · 4× Rodgers PERSON · 3× White House ORG · 3× Jets ORG · 2× Small PERSON · 2× Democratic NORP · 1× Kathy Hochul PERSON · 1× New York GPE · 1×

Narrative

"Governor Hochul has zero tolerance for misconduct by any New York State employee," her communications director, Anthony Hogrebe, said at the time, adding that Small was placed on leave as soon as the complaint reached the governor’s office. Hochul subsequently defended her administration’s response, telling reporters, "the culture was changed, the system worked." Many users on social media criticized Hochul's office for the Tuesday post with the previous scandal within her own press operation.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-13

Claims (21 extracted, 0 hedged)

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s press office appeared to mock new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia’s debut Tuesday by posting a photo of Aaron Rodgers’ entrance before the Jets game in which he suffered a season-ending injury. asserted
he → appear → injury
Hochul's own previous press secretary had to resign after sexual harassment allegations last year. asserted
secretary → have → allegations
The governor’s press account shared the image while quoting a White House post announcing, "Your new White House Press Sec, @KatieZacharia, makes her debut at the podium." asserted
Sec → share → podium
The photograph shows Rodgers carrying an American flag before his first regular-season appearance for the Jets on Sept. 11, 2023, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks. asserted
Rodgers → show → attacks
His highly anticipated debut ended after just four offensive snaps when he tore his left Achilles tendon against the Buffalo Bills. asserted
he → anticipate → Bills
He missed the remainder of the season. asserted
He → miss → season
The juxtaposition appeared to draw a comparison between Zacharia’s introduction and Rodgers’ abruptly curtailed debut, although Hochul’s office included no written explanation with the image. asserted
office → appear → image
OutKick contacted the governor’s office asking what analogy it intended and whether it was comparing Zacharia’s first briefing to Rodgers’ 2023 injury. asserted
it → contact → injury
Hochul’s own press operation previously faced a sexual harassment scandal. asserted
operation → face → scandal
Her then-press secretary, Avi Small, resigned on July 4, 2025, after being placed on leave pending an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint, her office confirmed. asserted
office → resign → complaint
Small was accused of inappropriately touching a fellow staffer at an Albany bar following a June 16 staff event. asserted
Small → accuse → event
The governor’s office said the investigation had "substantively concluded," but declined to disclose its findings, the New York Post reported. asserted
Post → say → findings
"Governor Hochul has zero tolerance for misconduct by any New York State employee," her communications director, Anthony Hogrebe, said at the time, adding that Small was placed on leave as soon as the complaint reached the governor’s office. Hochul subsequently defended her administration’s response, telling reporters, "the culture was changed, the system worked." Many users on social media criticized Hochul's office for the Tuesday post with the previous scandal within her own press operation. asserted
users → have → operation
Zacharia succeeded Karoline Leavitt after President Donald Trump named her to the position Friday. asserted
Trump → succeed → position
Her first briefing lasted approximately 14 minutes, ending with her directing reporters to question Trump before his departure for Alaska. asserted
her → last → Alaska
Trump subsequently praised her performance. asserted
Trump → praise → performance
"I thought she did excellent. asserted
she → think → ?
She did very good," Trump told reporters. asserted
Trump → do → reporters
The White House also praised Zacharia’s inaugural briefing in an official release highlighting her commitment to promoting Trump’s agenda and retaining the administration’s new-media seat. asserted
House → praise → seat
Hochul’s press account has cultivated a confrontational social media presence. asserted
account → cultivate → presence
In a March interview with City & State, her rapid-response director described the account as a vehicle for pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks. asserted
director → describe → attacks
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