Katie Zacharia says failing the bar exam was ‘inconsequential’ in describing herself as lawyer
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The new White House Press Secretary says that the results of her bar exam are “inconsequential” when it comes to referring to herself as a lawyer.
Katie Zacharia, who replaced Karoline Leavitt, became the subject of controversy shortly after assuming her new role as it became clear that she had been describing herself as a lawyer despite failing the bar exam.
Addressing the rumors on Thursday’s episode of the Real America’s Voice show Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec, Zacharia explained that she was preparing to move to Beijing, where her now-husband worked, when she took the bar exam.
“The results are somewhat inconsequential, because I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China, and we left shortly thereafter,” she claimed. “And after moving to China, I think, I didn’t really think much of the bar results or consider that something that I needed to focus on, and I was offered a job at an international practice division of a Chinese law firm.”
Zacharia added, “There’s no Chinese bar. I had enough credentials, which was my law degree, to be able to do this practice.”
The bar exam is a major qualification needed for U.S.-based aspiring lawyers to receive a license to practice law.
In China, non citizens cannot become lawyers or sit for the bar exam. Foreign lawyers must practice law for at least two years in their country of origin before being able to practice as a foreign representative attorney in China.
Zacharia, though, has repeatedly been described as a “lawyer”.
According to an analysis by Popular Information journalist Judd Legum, she has been referred to as such during 18 appearances on Fox News since March 2025. President Trump has described her as an “attorney” on Truth Social.
During her appearance on Real America’s Voice on Thursday, Zacharia addressed concerns over being described as a lawyer.
“And I consulted for a very long time many people in the field: ‘Is it okay and acceptable if I label myself lawyer, not attorney-at-law, not Katie Zacharia, esquire, but lawyer, and provide legal analysis, not legal advice?’” she said.
Zacharia continued, “And they said: ‘Absolutely, absolutely across the board you can call yourself a lawyer, you have a J.D. and to buffer that, you have international legal experience and transactional law, which gives you the ability to analyze it, not necessarily give advice.’”
Amid the controversy, the White House has rallied to Zacharia’s defense with Communications Director Steven Cheung telling The Independent: “She is uniquely qualified and whip smart to help inform the American people about all the great things President Trump and his Administration have been doing, and she will do an incredible job as Press Secretary.”
During her appearance on Jack Posobiec’s show, Zacharia described the pressure she had been under when she failed the bar exam and detailed why she chose not to retake it upon returning from China – given that passing the exam would have given her a license to practice law.
“And I was obviously incredibly, I know, distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who had been long-distance for at least a year, a year-and-a-half, when you include the engagement,” she said, explaining why she failed.
The White House press secretary went on to tell Posobiec that she did not retake the bar exam since she became pregnant upon returning to the U.S.
“We got pregnant, and we decided, all right, well, we’re going to stay in the United States, and we are not going to move back abroad, because that was still an option we were considering,” she said.
