Susie Wiles helped set up Fox interview ahead of press secretary’s exit

Politico, citing two people familiar with the internal dynamics, reports that in the Sean Hannity interview, Zacharia struggled to answer questions about her rocky first days on the job[1]. According to Politico, she was ousted hours later on Friday.[1]One of Politico's sources described the appearance as a "sanctioned hit" on Zacharia, who was not Wiles' preferred choice for the role.[1] A second source told Politico that "[White House spokesperson] Danielle [Alvarez] and Susie fed her to Hannity"[1].A senior White House official told Politico that "Susie and Sean do talk"[2], but that Wiles "did not need to feed her to Sean or anybody else."White House communications director Steven Cheung told Politico the story was "fiction that's not even creative"[1].A Fox News spokesperson told The Washington Times that "Susie Wiles and Danielle Alvarez had nothing to do with the booking"[3].Politico reports that Zacharia only later acknowledged that she had failed the California bar exam in 2011 and had not retaken it.[1]According to The Washington Times, Trump said a Politico report that Wiles was leaving was a "fake story"[3]. The paper reports that Wiles told reporters, "To be crystal clear, I am not going anywhere."[3]