Zacharia says Trump hired her to handle press, not legal work
Developed over time first seen 2 hours ago
Katie Zacharia, in her first week as White House press secretary, faced renewed questions about having previously described herself as a lawyer despite not passing a US bar exam. In a Fox News interview, she said President Donald Trump had not asked about her legal training and that she was hired to represent him to the press, not serve as White House counsel.
The controversy intensified after Zacharia initially said she had passed a bar exam in China, then clarified that she had not taken one because it was unnecessary for her work there. She studied at Pepperdine University’s law school and worked in Beijing for roughly two to three years; Trump’s announcement described her as an attorney. The article says the issue is her use of that title without passing a bar exam, which is required to practise as an attorney.
- Zacharia says Trump did not ask about her bar qualifications.
- She clarified that she never passed a bar exam.
- Her past use of the title “attorney” is under scrutiny.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Zacharia’s defence is that Trump hired her to handle communications, not provide legal advice, and she says he knew her role did not involve legal work. She studied law and worked in Beijing, where she says a bar exam was not necessary for her position, so she may see her background as relevant while distinguishing it from practising law in the United States.
The case against
The concern is that describing herself as a lawyer, and being introduced as an attorney, could lead people to infer she had professional qualifications she did not hold, particularly after her initial claim about passing a Chinese bar exam was corrected. In a prominent public role, clear and accurate descriptions of credentials matter for public trust, regardless of whether the job itself involves legal work.
Full account
Katie Zacharia, the new White House press secretary, has said President Donald Trump hired her to represent him before the press, not to provide legal advice. Asked on Fox & Friends whether she should have told Trump that she had not passed a bar exam, Zacharia said the subject had not come up during the hiring process. Her answer followed questions about her legal credentials after Trump described her as an attorney when announcing her appointment.
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine’s law school and has appeared as a political commentator on Fox News and other conservative outlets, where she has been described as a lawyer or attorney. She has since said she did not pass a US bar exam. On Tuesday, when asked where she had qualified, she initially referred to China, where she worked after graduating. She later clarified that she had not passed a bar exam there either and said a US qualification had not been required for her work in China. The scrutiny centres on her use of professional titles, rather than on whether a legal qualification was needed for the press secretary’s job.
In a separate interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday, Zacharia said she had failed the bar exam on her first attempt and had not taken it again. She explained that she had already registered for the exam before learning she would move to China, making the result less relevant to her plans. She also reflected on her first White House briefing, saying she had been in the post for less than a day and might have been better advised to introduce herself briefly and leave questions for another occasion. Zacharia said she had done her best and intended to be better prepared for future briefings.
The two interviews addressed different pressures at the start of her tenure: questions about how she had presented her legal background and criticism of her first appearance before the White House press corps. Zacharia has maintained that her appointment was for a communications role. Her explanation of the bar exam, however, has left a separate question about why she accepted descriptions of herself as an attorney. She has also acknowledged that she took questions at her first briefing before she felt fully prepared to do so.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 focuses on Zacharia’s Friday Fox & Friends interview, Trump’s description of her as an attorney and the questions raised by her initial reference to a bar exam in China. Source 2 focuses on her Thursday Hannity interview, giving her account of failing a US bar exam and more detail about why she considered her first briefing premature. Both report that she had not passed a bar exam.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Katie Zacharia throws Trump under the bus in stunning response about her legal qualifications amid fake ‘attorney’ outrage”.