Katie Zacharia, the recently appointed White House press secretary, is standing by her legal experience while acknowledging that she did not pass the bar exam.
In a conversation with the conservative outlet Human Events, Zacharia shared that she was preparing to take the California bar exam when she had recently married and was planning to move to China to join her husband, who worked in private equity in Beijing.
Despite not passing the bar exam, Zacharia mentioned that the results were not significant since she did not require a law license while residing in China. She has faced scrutiny for referring to herself as a “lawyer” but clarified that she sought advice from legal experts to ensure the accuracy of that title when providing legal insights.
Emphasizing that she will refrain from commenting on legal matters in her White House role, Zacharia also discussed her initial days as the press secretary, including her brief first press briefing. She explained that the briefing was intentionally brief as President Donald Trump would address the media later that morning.
Preparations for the inaugural briefing were finalized just two hours before Zacharia faced the press corps, with the materials provided the night before. Despite the tight timeline, she ensured she was ready for the briefing, having been up since early morning.
Zacharia revealed how she landed the press secretary role, highlighting that she did not actively campaign for the position. She closely monitored the president’s social media activity to gauge his interests and often appeared on television to discuss those topics, hoping to catch Trump’s attention and earn the position through merit rather than lobbying.
On October 7, while getting ready to take her child to a pumpkin patch, Zacharia received a call from Trump about the press secretary role. She swiftly traveled from California to Washington the following day, met with the president, and formally accepted the position on the same day.