Donald Trump recently praised new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia as a "brilliant" and accredited "attorney." However, Zacharia admitted on Thursday that she has never passed the bar examination. This development has brought to light Trump's past criticisms of female political figures who have failed bar exams.
Zacharia's first press briefing on Tuesday raised questions about her legal credentials. Initially, she claimed to have passed the bar while living in China, but later acknowledged she had not completed that requirement. She had told The New York Times that she couldn't hear a reporter's question over the sound of the presidential helicopter and assumed the query was about her activities after law school. She ultimately confirmed on Thursday that she never passed the bar.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Zacharia sat for the California bar exam after graduating from Pepperdine University in 2011 but did not pass. She previously worked at Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing before joining the Trump administration.
Trump himself has a history of making critical remarks about women in politics in relation to their legal qualifications. In October, he told reporters that then-Vice President Kamala Harris "didn't pass her bar exam. She's not a smart person." Harris had passed the bar exam on her second attempt in 1990.
During his 2016 presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton, Trump also commented on her legal background. "She went to Washington, D.C., she took her bar exam and she failed, right?" Trump said at a rally. "Oh, she's a genius. No, no, she failed on a bar exam." Clinton had failed her D.C. bar exam in 1973 but subsequently passed the Arkansas bar.
Trump had publicly lauded Zacharia's qualifications on his Truth Social platform last week, stating, "Katie is a distinguished Graduate of Pepperdine University, and the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, an attorney, and a frequent Commentator on outlets, including Fox News and Newsmax." He concluded with, "Good luck Katie!"
Nonprofit organizations are now calling for investigations into Zacharia's self-representation as an attorney.