Kathy Zacharias left the White House less than five days into her job

Her first public appearance as White House press secretary on Tuesday ended with a flurry of media criticism of her credentials and preparation.

By Brandon Dernon reporting from Washington, DC

The BBC has confirmed that Kitty Zacharias is leaving her post as White House press secretary, as the fallout from her shaky public debut appears to have taken its toll.

President Donald Trump told reporters moments before news of her departure was announced Friday that he had told her "if you don't want to do it, you don't have to do it" and "honestly, if I were you, I would reconsider."

Zakaria drew criticism for his first press conference in the role on Tuesday, which lasted less than 15 minutes and included just three questions from reporters.

He spent the days after the game on defense, answering ambassador Arjan's tough questions about his credentials and readiness for the job.

Trump hinted at his impending departure during a press conference outside Marine One early Friday afternoon.

"I said, 'Is this for you, Kathy?' because frankly, you don't need this," Trump said.

"You don't need to be treated so badly," he continued.

The BBC confirmed that he was leaving the job a few hours later.

As the country moves closer to November's midterm elections, which will decide who controls the U.S. Congress, Democrats see Zachariah's sudden departure as a sign of a defeat in the Republican White House.

"White House press secretary gone. MAGA extremists," Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, posted on X.

Zakaria's tumultuous week began Tuesday, after he appeared visibly nervous during his inaugural 14-minute White House press briefing, where he read talking points from a notebook, answered only a few questions and referred to his wife as president.

During the briefing, a reporter asked Zakaria — who Trump and others have called a lawyer and who graduated from Pepperdine University Law School — about where he passed the bar exam. To practice law in the United States, a lawyer must be admitted to a state bar by passing a rigorous examination.

After being scrutinized by the press, Zakaria admitted on Thursday that he failed the bar exam.

He said in a statement that he had implemented the International Transactions Act in China with "proper credentials."

When he said he hadn't practiced law, she replied, "Why didn't you say I never practiced law?"

Zakaria also explained to Hannity how quickly she took on the role of press secretary — hired less than a week before her first job — prompting him to ask, "Do I hear that you think the staff should have prepared you better?"

She told the hosts that she did not disclose to Trump that she was not a lawyer because "those questions were not asked" and that she was hired for a communications role, not a legal one.

Host Lawrence Jones asked him, "Do you think you still have the president's trust?"

He avoided giving a direct answer, but in the end he said: I hope I can build the trust and confidence of those around me.

Zakaria's early exit is the fastest among Trump's White House press team.

Anthony Scaramucci stepped down as White House communications director after 10 days in his first term.

"Records are made to be broken," Scaramucci wrote in X on Friday. "But I don't enjoy other people's pain."