President-elect Donald Trump picked Kari Lake, a longtime loyalist and failed Arizona gubernatorial and senatorial candidate, as director of U.S. state-owned broadcaster Voice of America.
Lake, a former local news anchor at Fox 10 Phoenix, became one of the loudest voices casting doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election after Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. She repeated her claims of election fraud after she narrowly lost the 2022 gubernatorial race in Arizona, never conceding to her Democratic rival Katie Hobbs.
Lake tried to run for public office a second time in 2024, this time hoping Trump’s name on the ticket would propel her to the Senate seat vacated by outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She ended up losing to Democrat Ruben Gallego—even though Trump carried the state in the presidential count.
In a post on Truth Social announcing the pick, Trump praised Lake’s career in broadcast journalism and gloated about winning Arizona by “record margins.”
“She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to 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,” Trump wrote.
Lake subsequently posted on X that she was “honored,” describing Voice of America as “a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth.
“Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide.”
In his first term in office, Trump nominated conservative filmmaker Michael Pack as the CEO of USAGM in 2018. Pack was only in office for about seven months after a lengthy confirmation process, but managed to court scandal by forcing out the director of VOA for a Trump loyalist and using taxpayer funds to hire a private law firm to investigate staff at the agency.
