MAGA host Megyn Kelly has some advice for Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia.
Kelly agreed that Zacharia’s first appearance behind the podium wasn’t stellar, but said critics are critiquing her performance when they should be critiquing her appearance instead.
Her stilted performance was “fine,” Kelly said on her Megyn Kelly Show. Instead, it’s her “look” that’s the problem. “You know, she’s got very heavy makeup on. She’s got the long curls,” Kelly said. “She’s got some chest showing with the tie. I think she needs to dial it back.”
Despite her scathing critique on Tuesday, Kelly herself has drawn criticism for her scant attire at work.
In 2017, she wore an off-the-shoulder dress with black spaghetti straps and a thigh-high slit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a convention at Konstantin Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Kelly wore a more conservative outfit for the full sit-down interview.
Defending herself against criticism for wearing spaghetti straps at the Republican National Convention in 2016, Kelly told The New York Times in a profile titled “No One Tells Megyn Kelly What to Wear” that it was a “lovely dress.”
“A convention is a kind of free-form extravaganza, and there are certain settings where you can take risks,” she added. “So I just thought: ‘Yes, I can do this. I can be smart and challenging while I wear spaghetti straps, and everyone is just going to have to get their heads around that.”
Kelly took a different stance on the subject on her web show, on which she criticized Zacharia, who wore a blazer over a blouse with an unrevealing dip at the chest.
“I’m just going to say, I know she’s auditioning for a job on Fox News,” she continued, but, “you need to present as a serious person.”
Zacharia’s awkward debut sparked a barrage of criticism, even among White House officials, with one telling MS NOW’s Jake Traylor anonymously that Zacharia, 41, “got off on the wrong foot.”
“She needs to get much better, fast. Otherwise, she’ll break Scaramucci’s record,” the source added. Scaramucci served as the White House Communications Director for just 10 days in 2017 during President Donald Trump’s first administration before he was fired.
Zacharia, who took over the role after Karoline Leavitt stepped down in August, worked as a senior communications adviser for Trump Media & Technology Group before landing the job. Trump praised her as a “loyal and brilliant supporter” with an “unblemished record.”
Kelly said Zacharia’s nervousness is to be expected, but her presentation is more concerning. “Your first impressions are important, and you should be the consummate professional in your presentation, which means dialing back the makeup, dialing back the over-the-top curls and the hair, and maybe covering up a little bit more underneath that suit jacket,” she said.
“You’re not there to turn anybody on. You’re there to look like a professional,” she added, since, after all, “Roger Ailes will be the first to tell you when you are in a job in which you need to be taken seriously.”
Kelly reported Ailes at 21st Century Fox for unwanted sexual advances in 2016, during her time as a Fox News reporter.
Though Zacharia’s appearance was too “over-the-top” for her, Kelly still argued that people should cut her some slack. After playing one of Zacharia’s most-talked-about blunders—accidentally referring to Trump as her husband—Kelly said people should “give her some time” to get better.
“She’s getting creamed for that stumbling mess of an answer, but she’s nervous,” Kelly said. “Now, you can make the case she shouldn’t be the press secretary then if she gets nervous in front of the cameras, but she’ll get there. Trust me. Talking live on camera is not as easy as it looks for most people, and she doesn’t seem to have a ton of experience doing it.”
What’s more, Kelly added, “She was probably hired because she’s attractive, and she must have done a decent job behind the scenes at Truth Social, and Trump was favorably impressed by her. I believe that with time she could get there, but she’s clearly not there yet.”
