New White House Press Sec. Katie Zacharia Reveals Bizarre Reason Why She Failed Bar Exam Amid Scrutiny Over Legal Credentials
Katie Zacharia has confirmed she did not pass bar exam and explains why she still refers to herself as a 'lawyer.'
Oct. 16 2026, Published 9:24 a.m. ET
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has confirmed she's never passed her bar exam — despite describing herself as a lawyer.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the former Fox News commentator, 41, has attempted to explain why she failed to achieve the qualification, amid scrutiny over her legal credentials.
'The Results Are Somewhat Inconsequential'
Zacharia tried to play down failed exam.
Addressing the controversy on Thursday’s episode of the Real America's Voice show Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec, Zacharia claimed she was preparing to move to Beijing, where her now-husband worked, when she took the bar exam.
She explained: "The results are somewhat inconsequential, because I knew I wouldn’t need the bar in China, and we left shortly thereafter.
"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 was grilled by Jack Posobiec.
Trump Refers To Zacharia As 'Lawyer'
Donald Trump has repeatedly been described as a 'lawyer.'
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.
Her new boss Donald Trump, 80, has repeatedly been described as a "lawyer", despite not having the necessary qualifications.
During her appearance on Thursday’s show, Zacharia, explained why she felt obliged to use the term, saying: "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?'"
'You Can Call Yourself A Lawyer'
Zacharia said she was supported by experts.
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.'"
Zacharia also 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.
She said: "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.
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Zacharia claims she did not retake exam after becoming pregnant.
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.
RadarOnline.com recently told how a watchdog organization has asked California's State Bar to investigate White House Press Zacharia's claim that she's a lawyer.
The Campaign for Accountability (CFA) filed the complaint this week, shortly after Zacharia's first press conference.
