我问 Katie Zacharia 她怎么样。她说一切都很艰难，但她依然抬头挺胸。一周前，她正准备在白宫新闻发言室首次面对记者。今天，她已回到加利福尼亚。
I asked Katie Zacharia how she is doing. It’s been rough, she says, but she’s holding her head high. A week ago, she was preparing to face the press for the first time in the White House Briefing Room. Today, she’s back in California.
她的批评者嘲笑她。Gov. Gavin Newsom 的新闻办公室转发了一张表情包：“In Memoriam: Tuesday-Friday。”很有品位。
Her critics mocked her. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office shared a meme: “In Memoriam: Tuesday-Friday.”Classy.
Zacharia 在一周内经历的比大多数政治评论员整个职业生涯都要多。
Zacharia endured more in one week than most political pundits experience over their entire careers.
请暂时抛开你对她的看法，花点时间体会在国家舞台上被推上高位后又被摧毁，再重新站起来所需的力量。她甚至没有犯错。
Set aside what you think you know about her, and take a moment to appreciate the strength it takes to pick yourself up after being elevated, then crushed, on the national stage. Without really making a mistake at all.
我认识 Katie 已有大约一年时间。我们曾多次在“Fox News at Night”与 Trace Gallagher 一同出现。
I have known Katie for at least a year or so. We have appeared together several times on “Fox News at Night” with Trace Gallagher.
她还为《加利福尼亚邮报》撰写了一篇受欢迎的文章，讲述她为争取在健身房穿 MAGA 帽子的权利而斗争的经历。
She also wrote a popular article for us at The California Post about how she had fought for the right to wear a MAGA hat to the gym.
当总统唐纳德·特朗普任命她为新任新闻发言人时，所有与她工作过的人都对她赞不绝口。
When President Donald Trump named her his new press secretary, everyone who had worked with her had nothing but praise for her.
来自洛杉矶的 CNN 主持人 Elex Michaelson 当时表示，她是“我们节目上见过的最亲切的嘉宾之一”。虽然她对总统忠诚到底，他补充道：“她还结交了几位我们介绍给她的民主党评论员的私人朋友。”但这不过是政治，对华盛顿来说，比一个来自加利福尼亚、身为四个孩子的母亲的 outsider 更危险的，是她被提拔至内部圈子。
Elex Michaelson, a CNN host based in Los Angeles, said at the time that she was “one of the nicest guests we’ve ever had” on his show. While she was fiercely loyal to the president, he added: “She’s ended up as personal friends with several of the Democratic panelists we’ve introduced her to.”But this is politics, and there is nothing more dangerous to Washington than an outsider — in this case, a mother of four from California — elevated to the inner circle.
此外，还有那些在评论界暗中羡慕 Zacharia 新职位的同僚。
There was also plenty of jealousy in pundit land from those who quietly coveted Zacharia’s new job.
Zacharia 的首次新闻发布会还算顺利。她显得紧张，有点结巴——这对于一位没有在竞选期间接受数月曝光、也没有数周时间准备和练习的人来说是可以理解的。她仪表堂堂，能够冷静自如地回答来自友好媒体的几个问题。随后，关于她简历的争议爆发。
Zacharia’s first press briefing was fine. She appeared nervous, and stumbled a bit — understandable for someone who had been thrust into the spotlight without months of exposure on the campaign trail, and without weeks to practice and prepare. She looked the part, and answered a few questions from friendly outlets with calm fluency. Then, a controversy over her résumé erupted.
自由派媒体批评称，尽管她自称“律师”，但扎哈里亚并未通过加州州律师公会或其他州的律师资格考试。他们认为，这不仅是不诚实，更是犯罪。
Liberal media critics pounced on the fact that despite calling herself a “lawyer,” Zacharia had not passed the State Bar in California or anywhere else. This, they claimed, was not only dishonest, but a crime.
一些同样的人士正在支持“医生”阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛亚德，他是密歇根州参议院选举的民主党候选人，毕业于医学院但未获执业许可。据称，贾·拜登似乎暂时无法发表评论。在法律和伦理层面，扎哈里亚是清白的。她指出，她曾咨询过专家，关于使用“律师”一词的规定。虽然各州规定不同，美国律师协会去年发布的一篇文章指出：“律师是指通过律师资格考试并获准在某司法管辖区执业的律师。但律师，虽可能接受过与律师相同的法律培训，却未获准在该司法管辖区执业。……”[今天] 术语本身并不重要，而且你不应（也不应该）因随意使用这些词而被起诉。”
Some of the same people are supporting “Doctor” Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, who graduated from medical school but is not licensed to practice. Dr. Jill Biden was apparently unavailable for comment. In terms of the legal and ethical issues, Zacharia is in the clear. She notes that she had consulted with experts on the use of the term “lawyer.”While rules differ from state to state, the American Bar Association published an article last year in which it noted: “An attorney is someone who passed the bar examination and has been admitted to practice law in a jurisdiction. But a lawyer, who may have received the same legal training as an attorney, has not been admitted to practice law. …“[T]oday, the terminology is not a big deal. And you won’t (or shouldn’t) be sued if you use the words indiscriminately.”
扎哈里亚对我说：“《ABA Journal》2025年1月的文章正好阐明了我所依据的区别……在任何Fox或媒体露面之前，我咨询了律师和法律专业人士，他们确认基于我在佩珀代因大学的法学博士学位和经验，以‘律师’自居是合适的。” 这场法律争议是个烟雾弹。扎哈里亚真正的过错可能在于她惹怒了错误的人。
Zacharia told me: “The ABA Journal’s January 2025 piece draws the exact distinction I relied on … Before any Fox or media appearances I consulted attorneys and legal professionals who confirmed it was appropriate to identify as a lawyer — given my Pepperdine JD and experience.”The legal brouhaha was a red herring. Zacharia’s real sin may have been to irritate the wrong people.
主流媒体不满意之处在于她仅联系右翼媒体——包括布雷特巴特、福克斯和《每日邮报》。而且，令人震惊的是，一些保守媒体也似乎针对她。最终，责任由特朗普承担。他作出了决定。但扎哈里亚坚决否认他让她陷入困境的说法。
The legacy media did not like the fact that she only called on right-of-center outlets — Breitbart, Fox and the Daily Mail. And, shockingly, some in the conservative media seemed to have it in for her as well. Ultimately, the buck stops with Trump. He made the call. But Zacharia adamantly rejects the claim that he put her in a tough position.
她告诉我：“响应总统的号召去服务是一种荣誉，我的孩子们能够看到他们的母亲挺身而出，争取世界上最为人觊觎的职位之一。”她有没有遗憾？
“Answering the president’s call to serve was an honor, and my kids were able to see their mom step up for one of the most sought-after jobs in the world,” she told me. Does she have regrets?
“我很自豪我说了同意，坚守了我的信念，并且即使形势对我不利也一直支持总统——向我的孩子们展示了面对批评时勇气是什么样子。”学到了什么教训？
“I’m proud I said yes, stood firm in what I believe, and kept supporting the president even when the circumstances weren’t ideal for me — showing my children what courage looks like in the face of criticism.”Lessons learned?
“最大的教训是忠于自己的品格，专注于眼前的工作，拒绝被批评者定义。”我自己的建议：我在政界的第一位老板告诉我，度过政治丑闻的诀窍就是——熬过去。就是这样。祝你好运，凯蒂。我们很快会再见到你。乔尔·波拉克是《加州邮报》的评论版编辑。
“The biggest lessons are to stay true to your character, focus on the work in front of you, and refuse to be defined by the critics.”My own advice: My first boss in politics told me that the trick to getting through a political scandal was — to get through it. That’s it. Good luck, Katie. We’ll see you again, soon. Joel Pollak is the Opinion editor of The California Post.