Liberal Pundits Floored by Sean Hannity’s Grilling of Katie Zacharia on Fox News: ‘She’s Cooked’

Sean Hannity’s unexpectedly bruising interview with President Donald Trump’s new press secretary left political media figures stunned Thursday night, with one observer declaring quite simply that Katie Zacharia was “cooked.”

Zacharia appeared on Hannity’s show after a rocky first week behind the White House podium, including a debut briefing that lasted just 14 minutes and featured only three questions.

Hannity, who had initially defended that appearance as “perfectly normal,” took a decidedly different approach when Zacharia joined him on Thursday.

The Fox host repeatedly pressed her over the briefing and reports that she had described herself as a lawyer despite never passing the bar exam.

“Why not just say, ‘I went to Pepperdine Law School and then took a different career path’?” Hannity asked. “Why get into this long drawn-out thing about the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?”

The grilling immediately caught the attention of reporters accustomed to Hannity’s generally friendly treatment of Republican officials.

“Wow – Hannity is moving in for the kill,” independent journalist Aaron Rupar wrote while posting the exchange.

The Bulwark’s Will Sommer was even more surprised, calling the interview “crazy” and the “toughest” he’d seen Hannity dish it out to a Trump White House official:

Democratic Party official Matt Rein offered an even blunter assessment: “I don’t think I have ever seen Hannity press a Republican, let alone a White House staffer, like this. She’s cooked.”

Several media figures focused not merely on the severity of the questioning, but on what Hannity’s posture could signal given his longstanding relationship and closeness with Trump.

Journalist Yashar Ali noted it was “very difficult to imagine” Hannity’s “tone and approach with Zacharia” would only happen if he knew Trump “would be ok with or wanted” it:

Semafor’s Max Tani similarly noted: “Hannity knows Trump watches his show. His decision to ask Katie Zacharia real questions instead of just defending her or criticizing the media seems pretty notable.”

In another post, Zeteo’s Justin Baragona zeroed in on the moment Hannity asked whether Zacharia was blaming White House staff for failing to prepare her.

“You can see the exact moment she realized it wasn’t gonna be the typical Hannity love fest – when he sternly asked her is she was blaming the staff for not preparing her,” he wrote. “Her heart immediately sunk, as she knew it was over for her.”

MAGA commentator Ian Miles Cheong declared: “Sean Hannity just ended Katie Zacharia’s entire career.”

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House deputy press secretary who later became a critic of the president, offered a more straightforward warning.

The unforgiving pile-on continued from pundits and others critical of the administration:

Throughout the interview, Hannity repeatedly cut through Zacharia’s explanations over her legal credentials. After she confirmed that she had failed the bar exam and never retaken it, Hannity confronted her with reports of social media posts identifying her as an attorney.

Zacharia said the examples were retweets and insisted she had consulted legal professionals before using the term “lawyer,” citing her Juris Doctor from Pepperdine and previous work at a Chinese law firm.

Hannity eventually returned to her White House performance, asking why she had taken only three questions during her debut and what she planned to change.

Zacharia promised she would be “very well prepared” going forward and told Hannity: “I will step up to the duty that President Trump has asked me to as press secretary.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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