President-elect Donald Trump continued his hit parade of political appointments for extended family, Fox News alums, and other assorted goobers Wednesday night on Truth Social, announcing Kari Lake as his pick for director of Voice of America, the government-funded international news outlet.
There’s just one (several) tiny (significant) problem(s): The VOA, which is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is government-funded, not government-run. The outlet was created in 1942 to push back against Nazi propaganda and deliver clear-eyed, objective news from the U.S. around the world. It currently broadcasts in 48 languages, with an estimated weekly reach of 326 million adults globally across its platforms. Appointees of both VOA and its parent agency are subject to several layers of approvals, as well as a “firewall” for the organization to ensure that the government isn’t inserting its own agendas and biases into VOA’s output.
But by suggesting Lake to run the outlet, Trump certainly appears to be trying to do just that, with hopes of the Voice of America acting as, well, the Voice of Trump, as if he hasn’t already said enough.
Lake is a former news anchor who, much like Trump, has frequently expressed her disdain for the mainstream media, and joined him in publicly denying that the results of the 2020 election were valid.
According to Trump, Lake will “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”
His congratulatory post continued with his signature creative capitalization: “Kari was a beloved News Anchor in Arizona, which supported me by record margins, for over 20 years.”
For her part, Lake said she was “honored” to be put up for the gig. “Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide,” she wrote on social media.
Her news anchor days behind her, Lake has turned her attention to unsuccessfully grasping for political office. She ran (and was defeated) in the 2022 gubernatorial race in Arizona, the results of which she refused to accept for quite some time, and more recently had a failed Senate bid for the state in November. In 2022, she told journalists that she would be their “worst frickin’ nightmare” if elected, and has called to “defund the press,” whom she has also referred to as “monsters.”
Trump clashed with the Agency for Global Media and its mission, which is antithetical to Trump’s goals of promoting his own agenda. More than 30 whistleblowers within VOA complained about Michael Pack, Trump’s first-term appointee. An anonymous VOA employee told CNN that “many of us are very disturbed” by Trump’s intention to place Lake in the position.
The president is not able to unilaterally install personnel at the outlet: The head of VOA must be approved by a seven-person committee that includes the Secretary of State; the other six members, which must be split between Democrats and Republicans, must also be approved by the Senate. That might seem to spell disaster for Lake, but Pete Hegseth still stands a chance of being confirmed as Defense Secretary, cats and dogs have been known to live together in harmony, and who can even say what’s real anymore.
