5 minPolitics
Zacharia Defends First White House Briefing, Addresses Bar Exam Questions
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said she did her best with little preparation time and pushed back on criticism of her legal credentials after failing the California bar exam.
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia defended her first briefing room performance and her legal credentials, saying she did her best with almost no preparation time after being appointed days earlier.
Zacharia made her debut behind the podium on Tuesday, roughly eight hours after receiving briefing materials that morning, according to her account. She took only three questions during a briefing that lasted about 14 minutes, much of which she used to highlight the Trump administration's accomplishments ahead of the midterm elections.
Speaking with host Sean Hannity, Zacharia said the compressed timeline shaped the briefing. «Given the fact that I'd been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day,» she said.
She also rejected the characterization that she took questions only from conservative-leaning outlets. «I took several questions and I think it's been mixed because they've said I only took questions from conservative outlets. However, the Daily Mail is not known to be a conservative outlet or friendly to conservatives so I do challenge that narrative,» she said.
During the briefing, Zacharia announced that the Trump administration had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign from her ambassador role. She described the disclosure as a significant moment. «I was able to deliver breaking news, which I do believe was the right thing to do as the press secretary,» she said.
The scrutiny intensified after The Wall Street Journal reported that Zacharia had failed the California bar exam. Hannity pressed her on social media posts in which she had been identified as an attorney.
Zacharia said the posts were retweets of a title given to her, not an endorsement of the label. «I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and said that there's not endorsing the title. They were retweets of a title that had been given,» she said.
She explained that she sat for the bar exam once after graduating from Pepperdine Law School and did not take it again. She said she had planned to move to China with her husband and had already preregistered for the exam.
«I graduated Pepperdine, got married in the same week, and we had all intent to move out to China,» she said. «I had already preregistered for the bar exam and... during the summer, I knew I would be living in China and the results of the bar were inconsequential, and I sat for it because I didn't wanna have a withdrawal status.»
Zacharia said she consulted attorneys and legal professionals before engaging in media and providing legal analysis. She cited her juris doctor from Pepperdine Law School and what she described as substantive legal experience.
«When I went to go engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal professionals as to whether or not they agreed that I could be labeled a lawyer, both because I had a valid juris doctor from a good law school, a reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School, and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience,» she said.
The criticism extended beyond the briefing room. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel compared Zacharia's intelligence to that of a kindergartner, among other backlash she faced in the days after her debut.
Zacharia said she hopes to build stronger relationships with the White House press corps and have more substantive interactions with reporters going forward. «I would love to build a relationship with all of those members of the press corps so there is a substantive component to us having an ability to interact,» she said.
She also vowed to be better prepared for future briefings. «And I will be very prepared, Sean, and I will step up to the duty that President Trump has asked me to as press secretary,» she said.
Her appointment was announced by President Donald Trump on Friday, leaving her with little time to prepare for the high-profile role. The briefing room debut came as the White House enters a new era of press operations ahead of the midterm elections.
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