President Donald Trump’s newly appointed press secretary has gotten off to a rocky start.
The White House’s latest communications aide, Katie Zacharia, is facing scrutiny over her claimed legal background after describing herself as a “lawyer.”
And after delivering a disastrous first press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 13, she is also enduring sharp internal criticism from within the White House for a performance that many viewed as stiff.
Trump initially labeled Zacharia as “an attorney” when he announced his plan to replace Karoline Leavitt with the former Trump Media & Technology Group communications advisor.
But in reality she isn’t “an attorney.” Indeed, she earned a law degree from Pepperdine University, yet she never passed a bar exam and failed the California bar on her first attempt soon after graduation, Zacharia confirmed following a Wall Street Journal report.
CNN also uncovered that the 41-year-old Zacharia has referred to herself as “either a lawyer or a corporate lawyer” on multiple occasions. She has repeatedly described herself on social media as an “attorney” or a “legal strategist.”
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Zacharia later admitted on Thursday that she had consulted with Pepperdine’s president about how she could present herself in media appearances, and he advised against using the words “attorney” or “esquire,” though he deemed “lawyer” acceptable.
After her embarrassing first briefing, reporters on the White House South Lawn pressed her about where she had passed the bar. As she prepared to head to a campaign rally with Trump, standing behind him, she incredulously replied, “In China.”
Later, in a brief phone interview with The New York Times, she explained that she could not hear the question.
“I assumed the question was, ‘Where were you after law school?’” Zacharia explained, adding that “that’s all I could hear over the sound of Marine One,” and, desiring to respect protocol, the distance behind the president prevented her from moving closer to hear the question.
A White House official told The Hill that she relocated to China with her husband after graduation due to his job with a U.S. private equity firm. She worked on international transaction law as an associate at the Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing from August 2011 to June 2013.
Zacharia told NewsNation, which sought clarification, “I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”
Social media erupted with reactions to Zacharia’s loose use of terms like “lawyer” and “legal analyst.”
“The new D.E.I. that racists are perfectly fine with: Dumb Entitled Incompetent,” a Threads user observed.
Another quipped, “Illegally Blonde.”
One post summed up the mood in three words: “What a mess.”
Yet a legal background is not a prerequisite for serving as press secretary. After her debut briefing this week, both the press corps and internal administration sources criticized her performance.
While Trump and his communications team praised what some described as a wooden performance, others disagreed, according to The Daily Beast.
“She could barely read,” a senior Trump official bluntly said in a leaked text, as reported by the Beast.
Another observer argued, “She looked as though she was handed a sheet of paper at the last minute and wasn’t properly prepared.”
During the briefing, she read from a prepared statement with stiffness, answered three questions from reporters, and then concluded after only 14 minutes at the podium.
Social media reacted angrily to what critics branded as her evident ineptitude and unwelcome, fish-out-of-water aura.
“Trump’s followers are trashing his new White, Entitled, Incompetent (WEI) press secretary in leaked texts. It’s funny how they never criticize the bumbling fool who keeps appointing people like her… and them,” wrote a Threads user.
To clarify her exact legal credentials, she holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. However, having failed the California bar and not having taken a bar exam in any other state, she cannot legally identify herself as an attorney or a lawyer.
State-by-state rules vary, but simply possessing a law degree does not automatically grant someone the right to call themselves a lawyer or an attorney.
“Presenting yourself as an attorney before you are licensed falls under the category of ‘unauthorized practice of law’ and is typically considered grounds for a character and fitness inquiry,” explained The Bar Examiner.
