On Wednesday night, President-elect Donald J. Trump selected Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor turned outspoken right-wing figure, to lead Voice of America (VOA), a prominent U.S. government-funded news agency with a vast global audience. Lake, who has labeled journalists as “monsters” and built her political identity around combative rhetoric toward the media, will take charge of an organization that reaches hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Trump’s choice follows previous accusations that he used his appointments to transform VOA, which is intended to provide impartial news, into a platform for pro-Trump messaging during his first term. In announcing Lake’s appointment, Trump suggested she would be an ally in reshaping VOA’s coverage. He stated that Lake would work to ensure that “American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”
Lake’s 2022 campaign for Arizona governor was marked by harsh rhetoric against news outlets, focusing more on attacking the press than addressing the policies of her opponent, Katie Hobbs, who is now governor. Like Trump, Lake frequently referred to journalists as “monsters” and vowed to be their “worst nightmare,” even advocating for the defunding of the press during her rallies.
It remains uncertain whether Trump could replace the current VOA director with Lake, given a 2020 law that restricts the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM)—which oversees VOA—from unilaterally making such changes. Under this law, a bipartisan board must approve the appointments and dismissals of network heads, and no more than three of its seven members can be from the same political party. Additionally, Trump would need Senate confirmation to appoint new board members.
If appointed, Lake would lead an agency with a budget of nearly $300 million and more than 2,000 employees, broadcasting in almost 50 languages to over 326 million people weekly. Founded in 1942, VOA has a mandate to counter disinformation and propaganda from authoritarian regimes like China, Russia, and Iran.
During his first term, Trump’s administration frequently criticized VOA’s editorial choices and attempted to weaken journalistic protections. In 2020, Trump appointed Michael Pack, an ally of former White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon, to head USAGM. Pack faced criticism for attempting to turn VOA into a Trump-friendly outlet. A federal judge ruled that Pack had violated the First Amendment by infringing on the editorial independence of VOA’s journalists. An investigation revealed that Pack mismanaged USAGM and removed safeguards, including a “firewall” provision that prevented U.S. officials from interfering in editorial decisions.
This April, a bipartisan board appointed Michael Abramowitz, former president of Freedom House and a veteran journalist, as VOA’s director. Abramowitz, who had a long tenure at The Washington Post, led a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the War on Terror.
Since leaving journalism for politics, Lake has been a vocal proponent of conspiracy theories, including false claims about the 2020 election. Her 2022 campaign was built around the baseless assertion that Trump had won the election and unproven allegations against her gubernatorial opponent, Katie Hobbs. After losing the race, Lake refused to concede and pursued numerous legal challenges, all of which were dismissed. In this year’s Senate race, she hinted at conceding after a more decisive loss to Rep. Ruben Gallego.
“I will never stop fighting for the state I love,” Lake declared in a video on social media following her Senate defeat.