Katie Zacharia Facing Scrutiny After Calling Leftist Hollywood Elitists 'Sick Pedo Cannibals'

Katie Zacharia called left-wing Hollywood figures 'sick pedo cannibals' and promoted the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory in Truth Social posts now resurfacing as she prepares to become Donald Trump's new White House press secretary.

Trump announced Zacharia's appointment on Friday, 9 October 2026, naming the conservative commentator and communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group to replace Karoline Leavitt, who left the role in August.

An investigation by the newsletter Popular Information detailed Zacharia's past posts shortly after the announcement.

The messages include unsupported accusations of child abuse against political opponents and an exchange in which Zacharia entertained speculation about coded signals linked to QAnon. They show what she shared at the time, but do not establish whether she still holds those views.

Zacharia's Posts About Hollywood and John Podesta

In a Truth Social post dated 4 September 2022, Zacharia wrote: 'The radical left Hollywood elitists are sick pedo cannibals. Change my mind.' Popular Information reported that the post followed coverage of Bones and All, a film starring Timothée Chalamet about cannibalism.

The same day, Zacharia posted: 'Pedo Podesta. #pedoPodesta.' Three days later, on 7 September, she tagged Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity in a post asking why the network did not do a 'feature' on 'what a pedophile Podesta is'.

The posts referred to John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign chairman, who later joined the Biden administration as an adviser on climate policy. Zacharia provided no credible evidence for the allegations against him.

Popular Information also identified an April 2022 repost of a message claiming: 'Democrats want to mask and rape your children. That's their satanic platform.' The post made a sweeping accusation against Democrats without substantiation.

The messages echoed Pizzagate, a false conspiracy theory that emerged during the 2016 US presidential campaign. It alleged that prominent Democrats were involved in a child-sex-trafficking operation linked to Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria in Washington, DC. There is no credible evidence supporting the claim.

In December 2016, Edgar Welch travelled to the restaurant and fired a rifle inside while investigating the conspiracy theory. No one was injured.

QAnon and Claims About Trump

Zacharia's posts also touched on QAnon, a conspiracy movement built around the false claim that Trump was secretly fighting a network of child-abusing elites in politics, Hollywood and the so-called 'deep state'.

On 16 November 2022, another Truth Social user speculated that Trump drinking bottled water during a public announcement might be a coded signal connected to numbered posts from the anonymous Q account. Zacharia replied: 'I was wondering the same thing...'

The exchange shows her entertaining the speculation, but does not establish formal membership of QAnon. Popular Information reported that Zacharia posted or reposted 2,696 messages on Truth Social from March 2022, including 1,162 reposts from other users.

Her wider political record includes support for Trump's false claims that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Courts and election officials rejected claims that fraud altered the result. She has also encouraged Trump to seek a third elected term, which would conflict with the 22nd Amendment's limit on being elected president more than twice.

Questions for the White House Briefing Room

Trump praised Zacharia when announcing her appointment, calling her a 'loyal and brilliant supporter' and a 'devoted fan and member of MAGA'. She previously worked as a senior communications adviser at Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, and briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.

When Popular Information asked about the posts, the White House Press Office referred the newsletter to Trump's Truth Social announcement. The report did not include a separate response from Zacharia.

The posts are likely to prompt journalists to question Zacharia about the conspiracy theories and unsupported allegations she previously amplified. Whether she still holds those views remains unclear.