MAGA Host Trashes Trump’s New Press Secretary: ‘What a Shame’
“Lying to the President of the United States about your resume to land a job is a big deal,” the host said.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
NewsNation host Katie Pavlich slammed Trump’s new press secretary Katie Zacharia for describing herself as a lawyer despite failing the bar exam, accusing her of “lying” to the president to land the job.
“Failing the California bar exam the first time is normal. Who cares?” the the MAGA commentator wrote in a post on X. “What is not normal is failing the exam and then lying for years about being a lawyer or attorney to get on television.”
Pavlich, who was a Fox News contributor until leaving to anchor her own NewsNation show late last year, accused Zacharia of misleading the president about her job history.
“Lying to the President of the United States about your resume to land a job is a big deal,” Pavlich said. “The President incorrectly and repeatedly stated she was an attorney because for years she said so. I’d hope more people would be upset about that. The issue is the dishonesty.”
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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Zacharia, 41, has long called herself an attorney, despite failing the California bar exam in 2011. She has also described herself as an attorney in at least two interviews.
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In California, it is illegal to call yourself a lawyer without passing the bar.
At her first press briefing on Tuesday, Zacharia came under scrutiny for sidestepping reporters’ questions about her legal record.
Zacharia confirmed that she has never passed the bar exam.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
When asked where she took the bar exam, she said, “When I moved to China.”
“I practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials,” Zacharia told POLITICO’s Dasha Burns.
China’s bar exam is off-limits to foreigners, and no U.S. bar exams are administered in China.
Zacharia graduated from Pepperdine University’s Caruso Law School in 2011. That year, she joined her husband Tyler in China, where he worked for a private equity and investment firm.
The couple lived in China for about two years.
Zacharia joined President Trump in Alaska earlier this week.
Evan Vucci/REUTERS/Evan Vucci
According to Zacharia’s LinkedIn, she worked as an “associate” at Zhong Lun, an elite Chinese law firm in Beijing.
A Zhong Lun partner told the New York Times that the firm sometimes hires foreigners to bridge language divides.
“They are not practicing Chinese law at any time,” he said, comparing her role to a paid internship.
However, a clip of Zacharia, compiled in a four-minute supercut by independent journalist Judd Legum, shows the mother of four calling herself a “former corporate lawyer in China for three years.”
Zacharia’s LinkedIn also lists her as a former “General Counsel” for Fix California, a political organization founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell.
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