# How to lose a job in five days

> White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia lasted five days before being fired, making her the shortest-tenured press secretary in history.
- Title: How to lose a job in five days · Vox | Shortify
- Summary: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia lasted five days before being fired, making her the shortest-tenured press secretary in history. Katie Zacharia…
- Keywords: katie zacharia, white house press secretary, donald trump, anthony scaramucci, press freedom, trump administration, news, culture, lose, job, five, days
- Source: Vox — https://vox.com/the-logoff-newsletter-trump/506776/katie-zacharia-press-secretary-fired
- Author: Cameron Peters
- Published: 2026-10-16T22:10:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: katie zacharia, white house press secretary, donald trump, anthony scaramucci, press freedom, trump administration, news, culture
## Press secretary fired after five days
Katie Zacharia was fired on Friday after less than a week as White House Press Secretary, following a halting briefing room performance and a scandal over her legal credentials.
## Shortest tenure in history
Zacharia's five days make her the shortest-tenured White House press secretary in history, outstripping Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted ten or eleven days before getting the boot.
## Scaramucci breaks silence
Anthony Scaramucci posted on Friday: "Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain."

> Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.
## Restricted press access
Zacharia's sole briefing on Tuesday took questions from just three outlets: Breitbart, Fox News, and the Daily Mail, as the White House tries to ban CNN, MSNBC, and Politico.
## Crisis management failure
Zacharia's collapse shows a White House unable to spin itself out of crisis with weeks until the midterm elections, as Trump relies on flat-out lying about the economy.
## Key takeaway

Katie Zacharia was fired as White House Press Secretary after five days, becoming the shortest-tenured press secretary in history.