'Top cop' Kamala Harris faced major setback in her early legal career as she failed bar exam

WASHINGTON, DC: Kamala Harris has emphasized her background as a "top cop" to "prosecute" her Republican opponent Donald Trump, and make the case for why she should be elected president in November.

However, some argue that her legal career is "devoid" of accomplishment and that her success is largely due to networking.

The Vice President faced many setbacks during her nearly three-decade ascent through the ranks, one of which was passing the bar exam in 1989 on her first attempt.

Leo Terrell calls Kamala Harris a 'political opportunist'

Kamala Harris was called a "political opportunist" who was in "the right position, the right place" at the right moment by civil rights lawyer Leo Terrell, who passed the California bar on his first attempt. She was able to go from district attorney to attorney general to senator to vice president and maybe higher by making well-considered decisions, he claimed.

"Networking," Terrell said, is what catapulted Harris' career, reported Fox News. "Let's face it, she got to her position not on academic achievement. She got to her position as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, US senator and vice president, because of networking."

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown aided Kamala Harris' political rise

Leo Terrell went on to say that Kamala Harris's political ascent was also facilitated by the advice of former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who has publicly acknowledged having an adulterous affair with her in the 1990s.

"She has no outstanding achievement as a lawyer, as a trial lawyer, her record is devoid," Terrell said.

"… From my perspective, listening to her speak, listening to her approach to matters of public concerns… I don't think she's an academic heavyweight. I just don't see what's propelling her to this current political status. It's pure networking and politics and being in the right place, at the right time."

Kamala Harris' experience as the Golden State’s 'top cop'

After declaring her campaign for president following President Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race, Kamala Harris has drawn on her background as the "top cop" in the Golden State.

"As a tough prosecutor, Kamala Harris dealt with men like Trump all the time: Rapists, con men, frauds, criminals – she's used to guys like Trump, used to putting them in their place," a narrator for a pro-Harris ad released this week states. 

Democrats push 'Prosecutor vs Felon' narrative

After Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race, Democrats have started to promote the idea that the election is now "Prosecutor vs the Felon," a reference to the former president Donald Trump, who was found guilty earlier this year in a criminal case in New York.

"The contrast in this race could not be clearer – a prosecutor versus a convicted felon. A champion for American’s fundamental freedoms versus a man who has tried to rip them away at every turn. Let’s get to work," Rep Greg Stanton, D-Ariz, wrote on X. "November 5: the Prosecutor vs the Felon," Rep Daniel Goldman, D-NY, also chimed in. 

Kamala Harris' lengthy legal career

Kamala Harris, who will turn 60 in October, began her 27-year career in law after failing the bar exam.

Harris' failure made national news in 2020 when she was running on the Biden ticket for the White House while simultaneously juggling her Senate duties, most notably serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, Harris questioned Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who was selected by Trump to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"Republicans are scrambling to confirm this nominee as fast as possible because they need one more Trump judge on the bench before Nov 10 to win and strike down the entire Affordable Care Act," said Harris during the nomination hearing. "This is not hyperbole. This is not a hypothetical," she added. 

The questions and conversations Harris had with Coney Barrett were not nearly as heated as her behavior during other hearings, such as the controversy surrounding Brett Kavanaugh's appointment in 2018. Social media users brought attention to the then-vice presidential nominee's failing bar exam and her class-first performance at Notre Dame Law School as the 2020 election cycle loomed over the hearings.

"Kamala Harris failed the bar 1st time. Amy Coney Barrett 1st in her class," one social media post at the time read. "I rest."

Kamala Harris ultimately passed one year later

Harris ultimately passed one year later, with the bar admitting her in 1990, Fox News found on the California Bar’s website.

After completing her undergraduate studies at the historically Black Howard University, Harris went on to receive her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, which Terrell described as a "very good" legal school and said it was "kind of odd" for a student to fail the bar exam on their first attempt.

Kamala Harris started legal career in Alameda County DA's office

In 1990, Kamala Harris began working as a deputy district attorney in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office after passing the bar. She started out as an associate district attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office in the late 1990s.

Harris later went to the City Attorney's Office and ran for San Francisco's top cop in 2004. She was chosen to be the District Attorney for San Francisco and held the position for almost seven years. During that time, she befriended then-senator Barack Obama of Illinois and socialized with Representative Nancy Pelosi.

From then on, her political career took off, as she won the job of attorney general for California under Governor Jerry Brown in 2011 and went on to earn a Senate seat in 2016 following longtime senator Barbara Boxer's announcement of her retirement from politics.

Joe Biden announces Kamala Harris would join him on ticket

In August 2020, Biden declared Harris would be joining him on the ticket following Barack Obama's endorsement of him for president. Harris, dubbed "the Female Obama", has a close relationship with the 44th president and was one of the first elected Democrats in the country to support him when he ran for president in 2008, rejecting Hillary Clinton in favor of the senator from Illinois at the time. 

"We did it, Joe," Harris famously said in a phone call with Biden after polls showed the pair won the election. 

Internet backs Kamala Harris after report says she failed bar exam the first time

Social media users came to the rescue of the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate for not being able to crack the bar exam during her first attempt in 1989.

One X user tweeted, "So did Franklin Delano Roosevelt." Another wrote, "Lots of people fail the bar exam their first time." 

"Not uncommon. It'd almost like it's an extremely hard thing to accomplish," remarked one user, while someone else wrote, "As many as 50% or more who sit for the bar exam in California fail their first attempt. So this proves nothing -- if it's even true."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.