Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia admits failing bar exam, but defends calling herself a lawyer

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By Linda Ikeji 16 October 2026, 12:38 pm 0 comments

New White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has admitted she did not pass the bar exam after facing scrutiny over her legal career before becoming the top spokeswoman for US President Donald Trump.

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 in 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 when asked in an interview on Fox News last night.

"I did not," she said when Mr Hannity asked if she ever took the bar exam a second time.

Zacharia earned her law degree from ​Pepperdine University in 2011, according to the university. Nearly all licensed U.S. lawyers first obtain a law degree, but law school graduates cannot legally practice law in the US without first being admitted to a state bar.

On Tuesday during her first ​briefing, she took ​questions from ⁠just three reporters before ending the event in under 15 minutes. Her performance was ​criticized by some media commentators and political analysts, ​though ⁠Trump told reporters, "I thought she was very good."

In an interview Thursday with right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec on Real America's Voice, she did not deny reports that she'd failed to pass the bar.

Zacharia, who moved to China after earning her law degree in 2011, told Posobiec she had already preregistered for the bar exam before moving to Beijing, where her husband was working at an American private equity firm.

"I didn't want to withdraw from that," Zacharia said of the bar exam. "And we knew we would be moving out to China, and I was obviously incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who I had been long-distance from for at least a year."

Zacharia said she thought she'd take the bar and "see what happens."

"The results are somewhat inconsequential because I knew I wouldn't need the bar in China, and we left shortly thereafter," said Zacharia.