Katie Zacharia praises Trump as ‘kind’ and ‘wonderful’ after he fires her five days into new role

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Rascius, B. (2026, October 17). Katie Zacharia praises Trump as ‘kind’ and ‘wonderful’ after he fires her five days into new role. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-katie-zacharia-fired-press-secretary-b3068532.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-17 · by Brendan Rascius

Quick Summary

Katie Zacharia, 41, praised President Donald Trump as "kind" and "wonderful" after being fired from her role as White House press secretary just five days into the job. In an X post that went viral with over six million views, Zacharia expressed gratitude towards Trump despite his dismissal of her. The unusually short tenure drew comparisons to Anthony Scaramucci’s 11-day stint in a similar position during Trump's first term. Critics mocked Zacharia for her praise following her abrupt termination.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, 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

Katie Zacharia, who was appointed as White House Press Secretary on October 9 by President Donald Trump, resigned just five days later on October 17, according to CBS News and the National Post. Zacharia had previously worked as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem and currently serves as a communications advisor for Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social. She will be replaced by another press secretary as President Trump's team faces potential midterm election setbacks that could reshape power dynamics in Washington, D.C.

Written for “Katie Zacharia Picked As Press Secretary” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 116 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, 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 87057: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-17

Story

📰 Katie Zacharia Picked As Press Secretary
Politics · 117 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Katie Zacharia releases first statement since White House firing after disastrous first week same event · 100%
Daily Mail · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 31 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia's statement praising President Trump after being fired from her role as White House press secretary five days into it.”
Katie Zacharia is out as White House press secretary after just 5 days on the job same event · 100%
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 3 of 22 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia being fired from her position as White House press secretary after five days, with Article B providing additional context on Zacharia's statement praising President Trump.”
Katie Zacharia Is Out After Half a Scaramucci same event · 100%
Mother Jones
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 15% hedged 2 of 13 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles discuss Katie Zacharia being fired from her position as White House press secretary after five days, referencing the same specific incident.”
Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia fired after less than week in the role same event · 100%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 28 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the firing of Katie Zacharia as White House Press Secretary by President Trump after less than a week in the role.”
Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia out after less than week in the role same event · 100%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 28 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia being fired from her position as White House Press Secretary after less than a week, with Article B including Zacharia's statement praising President Trump following her dismissal.”
Katie Zacharia's five-day media disaster is MAGA troll fodder as AI-generated content goes viral: 'Records are made to be broken' same event · 100%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 26 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia's firing as White House Press Secretary after only five days on the job.”
Analysis: Zacharia was thrown into a whirlwind - and failed at a critical time for Trump same event · 100%
BBC News
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 18% hedged 5 of 28 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia being fired as White House press secretary just five days into her role, with one highlighting the context of a difficult period for Trump and the other focusing on Zacharia's praise towards Trump after being fired.”
Katie Zacharia’s five days as press secretary expose flaws in Trump’s TV-driven hiring same event · 100%
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 50 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia being fired from her position as White House press secretary after five days, confirming it is the same specific incident.”
White House reporters react to Katie Zacharia's 'brutal' exit as Trump press secretary same event · 100%
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 3 of 39 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia's short tenure as White House press secretary, her firing after five days, and reactions to this event.”
Katie Zacharia leaving her White House role less than five days on the job same event · 100%
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 26 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe Katie Zacharia leaving her role as White House press secretary after five days, with similar timing and context.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
117
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 2498 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)
2026-10-08
Hurricane Isaias update: Gulf Coast braces for life-threatening storm surge
2026-10-03
Prison chief to resign after shock botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-09-22
Costa Rican man complained of lack of care for diabetes before his death in ICE custody, family says
2026-09-17
Killer who gunned down famed Elvis impersonator set to be executed tonight
2026-09-04
Pennsylvania confirms second death of child with measles after RFK Jr. told CDC director to delete numbers

Who wrote this

Brendan Rascius
70 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The president said Friday there is “zero chance” he will replace her.
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Susie Wiles had a hand in setting up Katie Zacharia’s car crash Fox interview: report
🔮 No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to.”
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Katie Zacharia praises Trump as ‘kind’ and ‘wonderful’ after he fires her five days into new role
🔮 Should he win, Talarico would become the first Democrat to capture a statewide office in Texas in over 30 years.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Texas Democrat casts himself as David against Elon Musk’s $168 million Goliath in Senate showdown
🔮 For the first time this year, Fox News is projecting that Democrats will win control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Fox News is now predicting Democrats will take control of the House in November midterms
🔮 Some even wondered aloud whether her tenure might be cut short — unlike her predecessor, Karoline Leavitt, who held the role for nearly two years before leaving in August to spend more time with her children.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Even MAGA are cringing over Katie Zacharia’s press secretary debut
🔮 “She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well,” White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia told reporters after announcing that the president had asked Guilfoyle to resign.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Kimberly Guilfoyle tried to blame her money-requesting texts on AI to save her job: report
🔮 “She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.”
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Trump asks Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign amid her payment scandal, White House confirms
🔮 These include the SAVE America Act, which would require new voters to provide proof of citizenship, and restrictions on mail-in voting.
2026-10-11 · mixed framing · Trump has spent a majority of his days back in the White House bashing the nation’s election integrity
🔮 The GOP lawmaker later responded to an X user who called her “an actual renowned expert on the topic “ who “will just end the debate with one tweet.”
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Sexual assault survivor Nancy Mace appears to blast victim in ‘Cornell 7’ case
🔮 “Often during investigations, law enforcement will reach out to the District Attorney's Office to discuss additional investigative avenues they could pursue to further the case," the office said in a statement provided to CBS News.
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Colorado State student sues over alleged rape at frat house that happened just weeks before ‘Cornell 7 attack’
Also by Brendan Rascius
Susie Wiles had a hand in setting up Katie Zacharia’s car crash Fox interview: report
2026-10-17 · The Independent
The fund used to defend President Trump in his numerous court cases is nearly $2M in debt
2026-10-16 · The Independent
Brother-in-law reveals Six Flags coaster victim’s ominous final words before getting on ride
2026-10-16 · The Independent
Texas Democrat casts himself as David against Elon Musk’s $168 million Goliath in Senate showdown
2026-10-16 · The Independent
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 70 articles by Brendan Rascius →

Topics

America Americans Independent U.S. White House

Subjects

Zacharia PERSON · 4× Trump PERSON · 3× White House ORG · 2× America GPE · 1× Americans NORP · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Independent NORP · 1× Katie PERSON · 1× Katie Zacharia PERSON · 1× U.S. GPE · 1×

Narrative

Her post on X quickly went viral, racking up more than six million views and 15,000 comments, many of which mocked Zacharia for heaping praise on the man who had just shown her the door.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to.”
2026-10-17 · The Independent
Katie Zacharia praises Trump as ‘kind’ and ‘wonderful’ after he fires her five days into new role · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

Log in Katie Zacharia praised President Donald Trump as “kind” and “wonderful” after he fired her as White House press secretary just five days into the job. asserted
he → log → job
“President Trump is a kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man,” Zacharia wrote on X Friday evening. asserted
Zacharia → write → X
“I wish more Americans appreciated him. asserted
Americans → wish → him
No one will ever make America great the way he has and continues to.” asserted
he → make → ?
“It was an honor to work for him,” she added. asserted
she → work → him
The post came hours after Trump signaled her departure in remarks to reporters on the White House lawn. asserted
Trump → come → lawn
“Katie, do you need this?” he said, adding, “Honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider.” asserted
I → need → this
U.S. officials later confirmed that Zacharia, 41, had been fired. asserted
Zacharia → confirm → ?
Her departure brought an abrupt end to an extremely brief White House tenure — even shorter than Anthony Scaramucci’s 11-day stint as communications director during Trump’s first term. asserted
departure → bring → term
Zacharia served just five calendar days, during which she held one widely criticized press briefing that prompted critics and allies alike to question her ability to do the job. asserted
that → serve → job
Her post on X quickly went viral, racking up more than six million views and 15,000 comments, many of which mocked Zacharia for heaping praise on the man who had just shown her the door. asserted
who → go → door
“Worship the guy that just canned you…pathetic,” one user wrote. asserted
user → worship → you
“Have some self respect Jesus Christ,” another chimed in. asserted
another → have → respect
“Congratulations on beating Scaramucci’s record….truly impressive,” added a third user. asserted
user → beat → ?
This is a breaking story... asserted
This → break → ?
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 17 Oct 2026