Jimmy Kimmel turned Katie Zacharia's first White House press briefing into the centerpiece of his Tuesday monologue, mocking its scripted delivery and extensive praise of President Donald Trump while declaring the 14-minute appearance a "total disaster."
The Jimmy Kimmel Live host compared the debut to "the first day of kindergarten" and used clips from the briefing to question Zacharia's qualifications. His criticism focused largely on her presentation and loyalty to Trump rather than the administration's policy announcements.
"Her reading is good for an 11-year-old," Kimmel said, adding that Trump had "hired a fourth grader to be press secretary."
Zacharia, a conservative commentator named to the position on Oct. 9, succeeded Karoline Leavitt as the White House's 37th press secretary. Her inaugural appearance on Oct. 13 included roughly eight minutes of prepared remarks before questions from Breitbart News, Fox News and the Daily Mail.
The Associated Press put the briefing's total length at 14 minutes. PBS reported that Zacharia began with Trump's recent campaign rallies before addressing the economy and the border.
The appearance also contained a significant personnel announcement: the administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, to resign. But Kimmel's segment concentrated on the new spokeswoman's delivery and expressions of admiration for the president.
"She accomplished exactly what she was brought in to do, which is slobber a whole tube of lip gloss all over the president's behind," Kimmel said.
Zacharia opened by thanking Trump for his confidence and saying she had wanted to work for him "for a very long time." Kimmel used that remark to suggest that enthusiasm for the president had become the central qualification for the role.
"She wanted to work with him for a very long time, and really, that's all it takes nowadays," he joked.
A verbal slip provided another moment of scrutiny. While discussing her family, Zacharia referred to her husband as "my president" before correcting herself: "excuse me, my husband. That's a good one."
Zacharia responded to criticism of her debut in an emailed statement to Newsweek. "I am grateful to serve President Trump as Press Secretary, and I will diligently and effectively amplify his successful agenda," she said.
No White House response specifically addressing Tuesday's Kimmel monologue appeared in the supplied reporting. USA TODAY said it had requested comment; a separate statement it cited from spokesperson Davis Ingle attacking Kimmel predated the latest segment.
The comedian's criticism began before Zacharia reached the podium. On Monday's program, he introduced a mock description of an accomplished new press secretary before revealing that Trump had selected a former Newsmax commentator.
"Katie met a number of qualifications for the job," Kimmel said during that earlier monologue. "She has blonde hair. She can do a thumbs up. End of list. Really, what else do you need?"
On Tuesday, he also showed excerpts from Zacharia's previous television appearances, including her criticism of The Odyssey as a "woke" movie. Kimmel countered her prediction that audiences would avoid it by telling viewers the film had made $1.8 billion.
