Former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki is facing a wave of online backlash after mocking new Trump press secretary Katie Zacharias debut briefing as something resembling a Saturday Night Live routine.
Psakis jab came after Zacharia, appointed by President Donald Trump on Friday, delivered a roughly 15-minute briefing at the White House on Tuesday that was heavy on prepared remarks and light on extended Q&A. According to Western Journal, Zacharia fielded questions from just three reporters before wrapping up so the press corps could cover Trumps departure for Alaska from the South Lawn.
Zacharia told reporters that the president himself would be available to address more of their questions outside before boarding Marine One. The move underscored a communications style more centered on the presidents direct engagement than on lengthy, staff-driven briefings.
Psaki, however, chose ridicule over restraint. Well that briefing was basically an SNL skit except it wasnt will have a lot more to say at 9pm, she wrote in a snide post on X, signaling she intended to turn Zacharias first outing into fodder for her own media commentary.
Social media users were quick to remind Psaki of her own less-than-stellar moments behind the podium. One user fired back, Will you have to circle back on it?a pointed reference to Psakis oft-mocked habit, during her tenure from January 2021 to May 2022, of promising to circle back when she lacked answers.
Psakis circle back refrain became so notorious that compilations of her repeated dodge circulated widely online. Below are three minutes of her providing her signature response, a reminder that her own briefings were hardly models of clarity or transparency.
Another critic on X dismissed Psakis attempt to punch down at her successor. Your entire career as press secretary was an SNL skit lol, the user wrote, encapsulating the frustration many conservatives felt with a press operation that often seemed more interested in spin than substance.
On cable news, reactions to Zacharias first appearance were mixed, with predictable partisan lines. CNN host Kaitlan Collins labeled the briefing bizarre, focusing less on content and more on the limited number of questions taken.
Im not really sure that Ive ever been to a press briefing where there were only three questions in the briefing. It was quite unusual, especially for the first briefing, Collins asserted. Her critique echoed the medias long-standing expectation of extended, adversarial sessionsan expectation that has rarely been applied with equal vigor to Democratic administrations.
By contrast, former Trump White House press secretary and current Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany offered a more substantive and measured evaluation. She praised Zacharia for delivering what she called a mic drop moment when the new press secretary revealed that Trump had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as ambassador to Greece.
She did bring news to the podium, McEnany said, underscoring that, unlike many modern briefings filled with talking points and evasions, Zacharias appearance actually produced a concrete development. That revelation centered on allegations involving Guilfoyles financial dealings with a Republican donor.
Guilfoyle reportedly sent text messages to Republican donor and former congressional candidate Eric Deters asking him to pay off her $100,000 American Express credit card bill ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing last year in exchange for access to Trump administration officials. Her attorneys have since denied that claim, maintaining that she was seeking to collect roughly $150,000 in unpaid fees for speaking engagements and consulting work, according to The Hill.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Guilfoyle boasted of private jet trips and luxury stays thanks to wealthy Greek businessmen. The fact that Zacharia used her first briefing to address such a politically sensitive matter suggests a willingness to confront controversy rather than bury it.
McEnany further urged viewers to consider the context of Zacharias rapid debut. I would note, she began her job yesterday; she did this briefing today, McEnany observed, highlighting that most press secretaries are given more time to prepare before facing the cameras.
McEnany recalled that she herself waited two weeks between officially assuming the role and holding her first formal briefing. So kudos to her for just coming out and saying, Im going to do a briefing; Im going to do it within 24 hours, and Im going to drop this, she said, framing Zacharias performance as confident and decisive rather than timid or stage-managed.
Former George W. Bush press secretary Dana Perino, who joined the discussion, noted that she had the benefit of a lengthy apprenticeship before taking over the podium. Perino pointed out that she spent two years as deputy press secretary under Tony Snow, gaining experience and institutional knowledge before becoming the face of the administrations communications.
McEnany herself came to the Trump White House with a deep background in Republican politics and messaging. She had interned in the Bush-era press shop when Perino was press secretary, later serving as national spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee in 2017 and as the Trump campaigns spokeswoman in 2019 before being tapped as press secretary in April 2020.
Zacharias path has parallels within the Trump orbit. Leavitt, who now serves as Trumps 2024 campaign spokeswoman, previously worked under McEnany as a press assistant during Trumps first term, illustrating how the president has cultivated a bench of young, media-savvy conservatives ready to step into high-profile roles.
Against that backdrop, Psakis decision to deride Zacharias first day on the job looks less like professional critique and more like partisan sniping from a former Biden official turned liberal media personality. Circle back Psaki needs to lighten up and give Zacharia the chance to take the reins of her new job, and then judge her performance.
For an administration that campaigned on decency and norms, Psakis mockery underscores how quickly those standards are abandoned when a conservative woman steps to the podium. If the media and Democratic operatives insist on treating every Trump official as a punchline, they should not be surprised when conservatives tune them out and look instead to outlets and voices willing to assess performance on the merits rather than through the lens of late-night comedy.
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