Kimmel mocks new press secretary's reading skills and past media claims

Katie Zacharia has barely settled into her new White House role as Donald Trump’s newest press secretary, but Jimmy Kimmel has already made her first appearance a target for late-night comedy. On Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host questioned whether Zacharia was prepared for the demands of the job.

Zacharia’s briefing performance criticized

One moment from the briefing particularly caught Kimmel’s attention: Zacharia slowly reading from prepared notes. “Her reading is good for an 11-year-old,” he joked, before saying how Trump managed to hire a fourth-grader for such an important position.

The press secretary’s debut lasted just 14 minutes, with Zacharia answering questions from only three news outlets. Kimmel described the event as a particularly short first day and mocked her statement that she had wanted to work for Trump for a long time. He also took a swipe at her appearance, joking about her outfit and comparing it to an airline employee’s preboarding announcement. “All it takes is that and dressing like you’re about to announce preboarding on a Delta Air Lines flight,” Kimmel said.

Past media commentary under scrutiny

Kimmel also took aim at Zacharia’s previous work as a conservative media commentator. He recalled her calling Democrats pedophiles on social media and “giving weight to Pizzagate” conspiracy theory. The comedian sarcastically suggested she would now push for punishment for everyone named in the Trump-Epstein files.

Kimmel seized on Zacharia’s past commentary about entertainment to challenge her credibility. He aired a clip of her predicting that the supposedly “woke” film The Odyssey would flop financially, then pointed to its reported $1.8 billion haul as a punchline aimed at her box-office forecast.

Role transition and career history

Zacharia stepped into the briefing room earlier this week after Karoline Leavitt’s departure, marking the sixth person to serve behind the White House podium during Trump’s presidency. Before landing the job, she worked as a junior spokesperson for former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Kimmel used her rapid rise to fuel another round of jokes, questioning her staying power and suggesting she was already in the running for the title of “Trump’s worst press secretary.”