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Former White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariawas spotted in Los Angeles wearing a black MAGA hat with gold lettering, showing her continued support for President Donald Trump just days after her ignominious, record-breaking, short-lived tenure in Washington ended.
On Wednesday, October 21, the 42-year-old political commentator attempted to keep a low profile while out in California.
Dressed in an oversized hoodie, dark sunglasses and leggings, she was photographed getting coffee and visiting an upscale Erewhon supermarket.
Despite trying to go incognito, her bold Make America Great Again hat clearly signaled her alignment with the president.
Inside Her Stint as Press Secretary
Zacharia’s public appearance follows her swift departure from the Trump administration. Her tenure was remarkably brief.
She was appointed Press Secretary to replace Karoline Leavitt on October 9. She began her role with a disastrous 14-minute debut on October 12. She was out by October 16, breaking the record previously held by White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted 11 days on the job during Trump’s first term.
Reports said Zacharia’s abrupt exit was hastened by her failure to pass the bar exam, despite previously referring to herself as a lawyer on television, as well as a rocky interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Trump said he suggested she “reconsider” whether she truly needed the high-stress position.
Despite the sudden dismissal, Zacharia has remained publicly loyal to Trump. In a statement following her exit, she praised him as a “kind, wonderful, gracious, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and hardworking man,” adding, “no one will ever make America great the way he has.”
Katie Zacharia Defended Her Right to Wear MAGA Hat
Her affinity for sporting MAGA merch is well documented. Earlier this year, she wrote a high-profile op-ed detailing her refusal to back down after a local gym asked her to remove a MAGA hat.
In her February 2026 op-ed published in the New York Post(titled “My gym caved to anti-MAGA bullies”), Zacharia detailed a confrontation at her local Southern California cardio kickboxing gym after she wore a “Team Trump 2024 / Trump Force Captain” hat to class.
According to Zacharia, her hat — which she earned for her campaign work helping flip Dearborn, Mich. — triggered what she described as an “unhinged meltdown” from classmates.
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During a workout, a female classmate disrupted the session by demanding Zacharia remove the hat. Zacharia claimed two other women subsequently launched an email complaint and online smear campaign targeting the gym’s ownership.
While the kickboxing instructor initially supported Zacharia’s right to wear the hat, the gym owner ultimately intervened.
Management asked Zacharia to stop wearing the MAGA gear to avoid offending other members and creating a disruptive environment.
‘Never Back Down’
She accused the business of “caving to liberal bullies” and punishing a lawful viewpoint to appease left-wing outrage, arguing that constitutional principles should carry over into daily life, writing, “Freedom of speech doesn’t evaporate at the gym door. The First Amendment has no ‘discomfort’ clause.”
She concluded that the reaction reflected broader political intolerance, asserting, “If a gym can’t handle a Team Trump hat without descending into hysteria, the toxicity isn’t in the wearer — it’s in the leftist rulebook poisoning everything it touches.”
She defiantly closed out the op-ed by declaring her refusal to stay silent, writing: “Never back down. Never surrender.”
