A viral video showing a beauty pageant contestant struggling to answer a geography question is actually vintage footage of current White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia.
Following her White House press briefing debut on Oct. 13—where she took questions primarily from outlets friendly to President Donald Trump, stumbled through several responses, and wrapped up the event after only 14 minutes—White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia faced a wave of online mockery.
Amid the criticism, several social media users shared a classic video of a young beauty pageant contestant (archived) fumbling through an interview question, falsely claiming the person in the footage was a young Zacharia.
The misidentified video circulated widely across X (archived) and Instagram (archived), prompting numerous inquiries from readers wanting to know if the footage genuinely featured Zacharia.
In reality, the woman in the video is not Zacharia, but Caitlin Upton, a contestant from the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant. Because of this, the claim has been rated as miscaptioned.
While internet culture trackers like Know Your Meme note that the clip has frequently gone viral over the years—and many recent posters shared it jokingly—comment sections revealed that numerous users genuinely believed the captions.
Upton, who competed as Miss South Carolina Teen USA, famously struggled to address a question regarding why a significant portion of Americans couldn’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Her tangled response made references to maps, education, South Africa, and Asian nations, ultimately failing to deliver a coherent answer.
The original clip has been accessible on YouTube (archived) since the day of the pageant on Aug. 24, 2007.
Days after the incident, Upton appeared on the “Today” show to explain that she simply froze under pressure. During her appearance, she successfully provided a direct answer to the original question:
Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on a map. I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t. If the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people will learn how to read maps better.
Years later, Upton opened up about the severe emotional toll the viral moment took on her. In a 2015 interview with Teen Vogue, she shared that she battled depression and contemplated suicide due to relentless online and offline harassment.
The clip resurfaced again in 2024 when Vice President JD Vance—then a candidate—shared it on X to criticize Kamala Harris’s performance in a CNN interview. According to Vanity Fair, Vance faced backlash for dragging the old controversy back into the spotlight given its history of causing Upton severe distress.
Furthermore, timeline discrepancies completely debunk the claim: Upton was 18 years old during the 2007 pageant, whereas Zacharia was graduating from Pepperdine University that same year, placing her well outside the eligible age range for Miss Teen USA.