Shortly after the news briefing concluded, critics shared their thoughts.
During an MS NOW panel, political analyst John Avlon shared concerns about Zacharia evidently reading off a script.
“There’s an important difference, which is that she’s going to have to answer presumably tough questions on the fly. And she is reading her remarks right now quite extensively,” Avlon said.
He explained this could be a “problem” in the future when she’s asked “real questions” about healthcare, the Iran War, the Russian fuel deal, and similar issues.
Meanwhile, lawyer and former Representative Sean Maloney joked, “Well, if you had violating the Hatch Act on your bingo card…”
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from mixing their personal political beliefs with their official jobs.
Maloney continued that Zacharia was hired as the press secretary, not to discuss “campaign rallies” and her “favorite issues.”
During the news briefing, the press secretary discussed the “record-high ” attendance at Trump’s rallies and the accomplishments of the “energetic’’ president.
Additionally, an anonymous White House Official compared Zacharia to Anthony Scaramucci, who served as the communications director for only ten days in 2017.
“Getting behind the podium is tough, but she got off on the wrong foot. She needs to get much better, fast, otherwise she’ll break Scaramucci’s record,” they told CNN’s Jake Traylor.