Zacharia confirms she did not pass bar exam
The Hill · C · trust 53/100
Comments: by Finya Swai - 10/15/26 10:56 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 10/15/26 10:56 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said late Thursday that she did not pass the bar exam after her legal background prior to joining the Trump administration was called into question.
Zacharia, who has previously claimed to be a lawyer and was described as an “attorney” by President Trump, faced scrutiny in her first week on the job after she failed to answer which state she passed the bar exam required to practice law.
“You went to Pepperdine Law School but you did not pass the bar exam, correct?” Fox News host Sean Hannity asked the new press secretary in an interview.
“Correct,” she said in response.
Her legal background came into question following her shaky debut at the White House podium on Tuesday, where she was criticized for appearing nervous throughout the 14-minute press briefing and for taking questions from only three outlets.
She was later asked by reporters which state she passed the bar exam in, to which she twice replied, “When I moved to China.”
Zacharia said the reason for her bizarre answer was because she misheard the question over the noise of Marine One and did not want to break protocol by stepping in front of the president to get closer to the reporters.
Trump tapped Zacharia to replace former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, announcing her appointment on Friday — just days before her first press briefing.
Zacharia earned her law degree from Pepperdine University in 2011, but soon after moved to China for her husband’s job.
In an interview with right-wing media outlet Real America’s Voice on Thursday, Zacharia said she was registered to take the test but then decided to move to China for her husband instead of taking it.
“I didn’t want to withdraw from that, and we knew we would be moving out to China,” she said. “And after moving to China, I didn’t really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on.”
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