Trump’s claim that Kamala Harris didn’t pass bar exam is misleading

Former President Donald Trump gave a tense interview to a panel of reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists conference on July 31 in Chicago.

Trump made several claims during the interview about the background of his opponent in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris.

At one point he questioned her cognitive ability by suggesting she was unable to pass the bar exam, the test required for lawyers to become licensed to practice.

“She failed her law exam. She didn't pass a law exam, so maybe she wouldn't pass the cognitive test,” he said. “She didn't pass her bar exam and she didn't think she would pass it, and she didn't think she was going to ever pass it. And I don't know what happened.”

VERIFY reader Dan emailed us to ask if those claims are true.

THE QUESTION

Did Kamala Harris fail the bar exam?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

Trump’s claims are misleading. Harris failed the bar exam on her first attempt, but passed on her second try.

WHAT WE FOUND

Kamala Harris attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (since renamed the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco) and graduated with her law degree 1989.

According to her memoir, The Truths We Hold, she first took the California bar exam in July 1989. 

Harris failed her first test, later calling it “the most half-assed performance of my life.”

But a few months later, in February 1990, she took the test for a second time and passed.

Harris started her legal career in the Alameda County district attorney’s office before being elected district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California, U.S. senator for California, and finally vice president.

The California bar exam is notoriously difficult. The July 1989 test that Harris failed has a passing rate of 72.2% among first-time test takers, meaning more than a quarter failed. 

The February 1990 test that Harris passed had a total passing rate of just 45.9%, meaning more than half failed.

Passing rates are generally higher among first-time test takers than the overall pool, because the overall rate is lowered by people who repeatedly try and fail the test.

In February 2024, the most recent exam, California’s first-time passage rate was the third-lowest in the country at 45%, behind only New Jersey and Wyoming.