The now-former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia, who was sacked on Saturday after just five days in the job, was described by herself and her boss, United States President Donald Trump, as a lawyer.
asserted
who → sack → lawyer
When asked by reporters this week in which state she passed the bar exam, Zacharia replied: “When I moved to China”.
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I → ask → China
Media outlets such as the New York Times later reported that Zacharia had graduated with a law degree from Pepperdine University, a Californian Christian college, but had not been admitted to practise law in any state.
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Zacharia → report → state
According to the Wall Street Journal, she sat the California bar exam after graduating, but did not pass.
uncertain
she → accord → exam
Zacharia later admitted that was the case.
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that → admit → ?
Zacharia says she worked on “international transaction law” during a stint in China, but it seems unlikely she practised law there – China doesn’t generally allow foreigners accreditation in its jurisdiction.
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China → say → jurisdiction
The focus on Zacharia’s credentials, and her apparent embellishment of them, came after she gave her first press briefing, which was amateurish in the extreme.
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which → come → extreme
She opened with a gushing monologue about how honoured she was to work for Trump.
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she → open → Trump
“I have wanted to work for him for a very long time,” she told the White House press corps.
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she → want → corps
She took only three questions, and couldn’t answer the most pressing inquiry – whether the United States has suspended intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
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States → take → Ukraine
Zacharia’s predecessor Karoline Leavitt was an excellent performer but, overall, it is difficult to mount the case that the Trump administration is a meritocracy.
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administration → mount → case
It is stacked with sycophants, shucksters, nepo-babies and former TV hosts (Zacharia was previously a commentator for Fox News).
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Zacharia → stack → News
The self-styled Secretary for War Pete Hegseth (a former Fox News host) presided over “Signalgate”, where a journalist – The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg – was accidentally added to a group-chat where sensitive, classified details about US military airstrikes were shared.
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details → style → airstrikes
FBI Director Kash Patel is the subject of much scrutiny over reported heavy drinking and erratic behaviour on the job, and Trump’s hand-picked “Border Czar” Tom Homan was caught on audio in 2024 literally accepting cash in a plastic bag – $50,000 of it.
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Czar → report → it
The FBI sting was shut down by the Trump administration, according to the New York Times.
uncertain
sting → shut → Times
Homan remains in his job, as do the other men of his administration who have self-dealt and stuffed up while working, ostensibly, for the American taxpayer.
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who → remain → taxpayer
Trump, who became famous for his TV catchphrase – “You’re fired!” – seems to only terminate the employment of his female appointees.
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You → become → appointees
Zacharia is not the only one to get sacked this week.
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Zacharia → sack → ?
The now-former US Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, also fell victim to the Trump-woman curse when she was dumped via Zacharia’s first press briefing (the only informative news to emerge from it).
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she → fall → it
Guilfoyle, a Trump loyalist who was long-time engaged to Trump’s eldest son, Donald Junior, had become an embarrassment.
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who → become → son
She was given the posting immediately after her fiancé was caught canoodling with a younger woman, soon after which their engagement was broken off.
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engagement → give → which
Guilfoyle may have been spurned, but she made hay with her consolation prize.
uncertain
she → spurn → prize
She used the Greek post, it seems, to party hard and shamelessly hustle for cash – the final straw for Trump was the publication by the Wall Street Journal of texts where she tells a Trump donor whom she called “honey” to pay off her $100,000 credit card bill, apparently in return for favours.
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she → use → favours
Zacharia and Guilfoyle join former attorney-general Pam Bondi, Labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, homeland secretary Kristi Noem and national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard as the latest woman to be jettisoned by Trump.
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Zacharia → join → Trump
All have been replaced by men.
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All → replace → men
(Zacharia’s replacement hasn’t been announced yet.)
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replacement → announce → ?
It’s no wonder Zacharia was so anxious on her first day.
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Zacharia → ’ → day
She seems to have had almost no preparation and little notice of her appointment.
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She → seem → appointment
And her nerves would not have been improved by reading the subsequent media critiques, many of them unflattering and some focused on her looks.
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some → improve → looks
The Times of London headlined their story, “Another Maga Blonde Bombshell”.
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Times → headline → story
Its author, a woman, wrote of Zacharia that it was “hard to get over how she looks, with her to-the-tits golden hair, transfixingly white teeth and notably plumped and sculpted lips and cheeks”.
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she → write → hair
The Telegraph sniffed about Zacharia’s “flat Miss America semi-finalist cadence”, and said she hid behind her “impressive mane of blonde hair”.
Such criticism of a woman’s appearance is usually denounced by feminists such as myself, especially now we have copious real-world experience of the vitriol and physical risk faced by women in the public eye.
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we → sniff → eye
In Australia, as in the United States, female politicians and officials face disproportionate and sexualised abuse, often based on their appearance.
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politicians → face → appearance
Such abuse tends to divide into one of two lanes – the woman is either ugly and unf---able, or the opposite, and therefore a “whore”.
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woman → tend → lanes
But in the case of the Trump administration, the well-founded reluctance to comment on women’s appearance presents a dilemma because it is hard to observe the women of Trump’s circle without observing the way they look.
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they → found → way
And the way they look is a part of the broader story of government-by-MAGA.
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they → look → MAGA
Except for the non-public-facing White House chief of staff Susie Wiles (also subject to imminent-sacking rumours), who looks like a normal 69-year-old, the women of the Trump administration are all looks-maxxed versions of a heightened feminine aesthetic that owes much to our beloved Barbie.
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that → look → Barbie
They are cosmetically enhanced, heavily made-up and usually blonde.
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They → enhance → ?
Trump’s MAGA movement overlaps generously with the gender-fascism and misogyny of the manosphere.
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movement → overlap → manosphere
In that context, perhaps this hyper-feminised Trump-woman look – the emphasis on the feminine parts of one’s appearance, from the eyelashes and lips to the bust – is an aesthetic apology for being a woman who wields power.
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who → wield → power
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
