New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia blamed being ‘distracted’ by her marriage as the reason she failed the California bar exam and a surprise pregnancy as the cause for never taking it again.
On Thursday, Zacharia sat down with Real America’s Voice’s Jack Posobiec for her first on-camera interview since her much ridiculed Tuesday debut at the White House podium.
Beyond her uneven delivery and hasty exit from the briefing room, Posobiec also probed President Donald Trump‘s top spokesperson on why she’s been labeled a ‘lawyer’ when she failed the bar exam – something the Wall Street Journal revealed Wednesday night.
‘I had already pre-registered to take the bar. And I didn’t want to withdraw from that. And we knew we would be moving out to China,’ Zacharia said. ‘And I was obviously incredibly distracted and overwhelmed and excited for finally being married to someone who I’d been long distance from for at least a year.’
The press secretary argued the results were ‘inconsequential because I wouldn’t need the results in China.’
‘There’s no Chinese bar,’ she said. ‘I had enough credentials, which was my law degree to be able to do this practice.’
Posobiec then pressed Zacharia why she didn’t seek to pass the bar once she returned to the states.
‘Well, when we moved back Jack, we got a surprise baby,’ she said. ‘We had four kids in six years.’
New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia (pictured) said her marriage and children got in the way of ever passing the bar exam during a sit-down with Jack Posobiec
Jack Pobosiec (right) pushed Katie Zacharia (left) on her use of the term ‘lawyer’ despite never passing the bar exam
Zacharia admitted that the ‘miscommunication’ surrounding her credentials comes from the fact that she calls herself a ‘lawyer.’
‘And I consulted for a very long time many people in the field: “Is it OK and acceptable if I label myself lawyer? Not attorney-at-law, not Katie Zacharia, esquire, but lawyer, and provide legal analysis, not advice,”‘ she said. ‘They said “absolutely” across the board.’
Some legal experts have questioned that interpretation, with Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law telling the Washington Post, ‘A J.D. degree does not make you a lawyer.’
Zacharia also said her international legal experience bolsters that.
‘The truth is, I was very careful how I executed this and I never came across as someone who was an attorney-at-law,’ Zacharia argued.
The Karoline Leavitt replacement also explained how hastily she got to the briefing room, telling Posobiec that she received a call from the President last Wednesday, flew to DC Thursday and interviewed and accepted the press secretary job on Friday.
‘On Monday I showed up,’ she said. ‘Wants a briefing Tuesday morning,’ she said of Trump.
‘And typically Jack, briefs are in the afternoon, 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., where the press secretary has ample amount of time to have discussed with all the necessary people, get all the right information, be briefed, and walk out,’ she explained.
New press secretary Katie Zacharia spent just 14 minutes at the White House podium on Tuesday and was criticized for a rocky performance
Press secretary Katie Zacharia (left) stands behind President Donald Trump (right) Tuesday morning before the President departed for Alaska for a campaign rally
In Zacharia’s case, she received the briefing materials Monday night, but they weren’t fully baked until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
‘I never had a full briefing beforehand. And I went out and I effectuated the …’ she said, trailing off.
Posobiec asked Zacharia if the briefing had been kept intentionally short.
Her whole appearance lasted just 14 minutes – with the press secretary calling on just three reporters, including the Daily Mail.
‘Yeah, so knowing that White House protocol is pretty specific, it was absolutely my goal to keep it short,’ she answered. ‘Considering that he is his own best spokesperson.’
The President was expected to leave for Alaska shortly after she wrapped up.
Zacharia also conceded that she believed an impression on Saturday Night Live was coming.
Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, got lampooned by a water gun waving gender-bending Melissa McCarthy.
‘I know it’s coming, yes. I think – who would I like to have play me? Maybe a Scarlett Johansson-type character,’ she floated.
Johansson, who is married to SNL’s Colin Jost, has repeatedly been featured on the show, including a viral appearance as Republican Senator Katie Britt.
