Press Secretary's First Interview Analysis

Straight ahead. All right, Katie,

I know this is a widely viewed interview for you.

And

you had your first pr- uh, first moment as press secretary.

It's been widely panned, I'm sure you're aware.

It only lasted 14 minutes. You only took three questions,

questions about your legal background, calling yourself a

lawyer. You, you went to Pepperdine Law School,

but you did not pass the

bar exam, correct?

Correct.

Okay. What happened? How did you feel it went personally?

Well, Sean, I wanna give some background, and it's nice to be on here with you, and

such a privilege to serve as President Trump's new press secretary.

I was given the offer last Wednesday, or a, I got a

phone call last Wednesday. I flew out to DC on Thursday.

I had a meeting on Friday, was offered the job, flew home to

California on Saturday, flew back to Washington

on Sunday, was asked to start on Monday, Sean, which is

Columbus Day, and so it's a federal holiday,

and have a press

briefing at 9:30 in the morning on Tuesday.

So what I feel is I really stepped up and,

to the plate to do the press conference, Sean, with very little prep time.

I received briefing materials in the morning of Tuesday

and I went to deliver all of the great results

that President Trump is delivering for the American people

that are not often

spread in the na- national media, so I took it as an opportunity,

uh, so people would know what he's doing for

Americans and how hard

he's working. And then I delivered some breaking news.

Uh, I think I'm one of the first press

secretaries to deliver

staff changes, uh, for the administration, and I was, uh,

honored that President Trump trusted me w- delivering that information.

And then I took several questions.

And I think it's been mixed, Sean, because they've said I only took, uh,

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.

And then, as I should have, I ended the, the conference and

I left, as, as I believe, given the fact that I'd been

on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book

in the morning,

uh, I, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the

American people that day.

It, it, am I hearing that you think the staff should have

prepped you better?

Well, I believe that, that at, in that time, I could have just given a

brief intro and said, "I'm only here to introduce myself,

and i- I wanna engage with the press corps.

I'm a, someone who wants to build relationships

with every single one of you.

I, however, have been on the day- on the job for one day, and

I now need to, you know, I, instead of taking questions,

probably should've,

you know, stepped aside."

Well-

However, I was able to as- I was able to deliver breaking news,

which I do

believe was the, the right thing to do as the press

secretary, Sean.

I saw you were on with Jack, uh, Posobiec, I guess earlier tonight,

and you called it a conspiracy theory as it relates to the

issue of being a lawyer. Now, you did go to Pepperdine.

Pepperdine is a, a good school, no doubt about it.

Um, you took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the bar

exam, correct?

Yes, Sean.

Okay.

And so-

Did you ever take it a second time?

So here, I'll, I, so for background, uh, w- I graduated

Pepperdine, got married in the same week, and, uh, we

had all intent to move out to China.

I had already pre-registered for the bar exam, and during, uh, basically

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 withdraw status.

And then I moved over to China, and where I did get a job in an

international practice of a Chinese law firm.

I was doing multi c- cross-country border transactions

and multi-million dollar shareholder agreements and it-

But, but I wanna ask you specifically.

I, I-

Mm-hmm

... I know that part of the story, and you did do all of that.

Yes.

But you, did you ever take the bar exam a second

time?

I did not, Sean.

Or a third time? You, you did not.

No.

Okay. So y- you, you said you consulted with many

people, and they advised you that it was okay to call yourself a lawyer but not

a, an attorney, correct?

Correct.

Okay, there's a report out tonight that showed 15 social media

posts where you identify yourself as an attorney.

I think they were retweets, and I corrected the record and

said that those, not endorsing the title.

They were retweets of a title that had been given.

You know, it, uh, it, look, that is a very tough room.

Um, and I've known a lot of press secretaries

over the years, and following on the

heels of Karoline Leavitt is very tough.

Um, and I j- and speaking for Donald Trump makes

everything tougher. Why not just say, "I went to Pepperdine L- Law School

and then

took a different career path, and I took the bar once

and didn't pass it."

Why get into this long, drawn-out definition between the

difference between a

lawyer and an attorney? 'Cause I don't think most people see much

of a distinction.

Why didn't you just say, "I never practiced law"?

Well, Sean, I, when I moved back from the United States,

I didn't retake

the bar. I had four kids in six years.

It was never my intent to go into the practice of law.

When I was at, when, 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-

Mm-hmm

... 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. I wasn't providing any legal analysis,

Sean, or I'm, excuse me, legal advice.

I wasn't being paid for legal advice.

I was giving a general-

Oh

... review of, of the legal circumstances surrounding it.

All right. Why only three questions in 14 minutes,

and what

might you do a little differently going forward?

Uh, I can give you, uh, some unsolicited advice.

That's never gonna be a friendly room to you.

Y- yeah, so what I, what I would say is I would

absolutely be very well prepared on the briefing,

Sean, and I would love, and I do love questions,

and I would love to build a relationship with all of those members of the press

corps so there is a substantive, uh, component to us

having an in, ability to interact.

And I will be very prepared, Sean, and I w-

will step up to the duty of President

Trump has asked me to as press secretary.

All right. Katie, we wish you the best of luck in your new

position, and we do

appreciate you coming on. Thank you.