WASHINGTON — New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said on Thursday she did not pass the bar exam after facing scrutiny about her legal career before becoming the top spokeswoman for US President Donald Trump.When Trump announced that Zacharia would serve as the next White House press secretary, he referred to her as an attorney. Zacharia, who joined the White House on Monday, has previously said she practiced law before entering politics.”You did not pass the bar exam, correct?” she was asked in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” show late on Thursday.”Correct,” she said in response to the host, Sean Hannity.”I did not,” she said when Hannity asked if she ever took the bar exam a second time.Zacharia sat for the California bar exam after graduating from law school at Pepperdine University in 2011, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, but she didn’t pass. She took the exam around the time she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her future husband, the person said.Nearly all licensed US 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.Zacharia shared at least 15 social media posts identifying her as an “attorney” over the past two years, despite having failed the California bar exam and acknowledging publicly she had been advised not to use that term.The posts, published to Zacharia’s X and Truth Social accounts between April 2025 and September 2026, included Fox News headlines and One America News segments identifying her as an attorney, a designation she repeatedly amplified to her followers.The posts raise new questions about how Zacharia publicly presented her legal credentials after graduating from Pepperdine in 2011.On Tuesday during her first briefing, Zacharia 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.”When asked about her performance by Hannity, she said: “What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time.”A source familiar with her thinking confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that she had failed the bar exam that year. Zacharia acknowledged as much to Fox News Thursday night and said she did not take the exam a second time.In interviews with The New York Times and Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had consulted Pepperdine’s president and others about how to describe her qualifications before appearing on television, and was told she could use the term “lawyer,” but not “attorney” or “esquire.”A source familiar with her thinking said that sharing the posts on social media was not intended to be an endorsement of using the title “attorney.”“I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that those not endorsing the title, they were retweets of a title that had been given,” Zacharia told Fox News Thursday night.California requires those who practice law in the state to have passed the bar exam and makes it a misdemeanor to pretend to be a lawyer. The California bar association told CNN it had no record of her “having been licensed to practice law in California,” though it said it could not comment on whether she took the bar exam, citing confidentiality requirements.“The truth is, is I was very careful how I executed this, and I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law,” Zacharia told Real America’s Voice.WASHINGTON — New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said on Thursday she did not pass the bar exam after facing scrutiny about her legal career before becoming the top spokeswoman for US President Donald Trump.When Trump announced that Zacharia would serve as the next White House press secretary, he referred to her as an attorney. Zacharia, who joined the White House on Monday, has previously said she practiced law before entering politics.”You did not pass the bar exam, correct?” she was asked in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” show late on Thursday.”Correct,” she said in response to the host, Sean Hannity.”I did not,” she said when Hannity asked if she ever took the bar exam a second time.Zacharia sat for the California bar exam after graduating from law school at Pepperdine University in 2011, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, but she didn’t pass. She took the exam around the time she was planning a wedding and preparing to move to China with her future husband, the person said.Nearly all licensed US 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.Zacharia shared at least 15 social media posts identifying her as an “attorney” over the past two years, despite having failed the California bar exam and acknowledging publicly she had been advised not to use that term.The posts, published to Zacharia’s X and Truth Social accounts between April 2025 and September 2026, included Fox News headlines and One America News segments identifying her as an attorney, a designation she repeatedly amplified to her followers.The posts raise new questions about how Zacharia publicly presented her legal credentials after graduating from Pepperdine in 2011.On Tuesday during her first briefing, Zacharia 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.”When asked about her performance by Hannity, she said: “What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time.”A source familiar with her thinking confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that she had failed the bar exam that year. Zacharia acknowledged as much to Fox News Thursday night and said she did not take the exam a second time.In interviews with The New York Times and Real America’s Voice, Zacharia said she had consulted Pepperdine’s president and others about how to describe her qualifications before appearing on television, and was told she could use the term “lawyer,” but not “attorney” or “esquire.”A source familiar with her thinking said that sharing the posts on social media was not intended to be an endorsement of using the title “attorney.”“I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that those not endorsing the title, they were retweets of a title that had been given,” Zacharia told Fox News Thursday night.California requires those who practice law in the state to have passed the bar exam and makes it a misdemeanor to pretend to be a lawyer. The California bar association told CNN it had no record of her “having been licensed to practice law in California,” though it said it could not comment on whether she took the bar exam, citing confidentiality requirements.“The truth is, is I was very careful how I executed this, and I never came across as someone who was an attorney at law,” Zacharia told Real America’s Voice.
Trump's press secretary Katie Zacharia admits she didn't pass bar exam
