Kari Lake Outlines Her Plans For Voice Of America’s Future

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President Donald Trump recently picked Kari Lake to serve as the next head of the government-funded news source Voice of America.

The Arizona politician and former news broadcaster addressed the honor over the weekend and elaborated on what she believes is important for the media platform.

As CBS News reported:

“I’m sure they’re doing some great stuff already. I’ve been looking a little bit here and there,” Lake said in an interview with CBS News Saturday. “I’m not there to make it Trump TV and MAGA TV. That’s not what this is about. That’s not what Voice of America is.”

Lake, a former broadcast journalist who unsuccessfully ran for governor and for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, is President-elect Donald Trump’s selection to head the international broadcaster.

VOA, which is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, broadcasts news internationally in 49 languages on radio, television and online to an audience of an estimated 354 million people per week, according to its website. It is run by an independent federal agency.

Lake on Saturday was sharply critical of non-conservative media outlets during remarks on stage at AmericaFest, a political gathering in Phoenix hosted by the far-right group Turning Point USA, saying “the fake news — the mainstream media — has just become obsolete.”

“They’re good for one thing,” she told the crowd. “They’re kind of like a barometer. If you see the fake news attacking someone, what you should do is say: I’ve got to support that person.”

In an interview later Saturday, she told CBS News she’d like to ensure VOA staff have the resources to “be the incredible journalists that they’re meant to be.”

Of course, this wasn’t the first time Lake has been critical of the mainstream media:

Here’s some coverage of Trump’s initial announcement, per the New York Post:

“Kari was a beloved News Anchor in Arizona, which supported me by record margins, for over 20 years,” the president-elect said in his announcement on Truth Social.

As head of Voice of America (VOA), Lake will lead a taxpayer-funded international media outlet – with a $267 million budget – that has faced accusations of censorship and “woke-ism” under the Biden administration.

The outlet, founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, has also been criticized for initially refusing to refer to Hamas members as “terrorists” and describing the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel as an “incursion.”

Lake, 55, was a news anchor for Phoenix-based Fox affiliate KSAV-TV before entering the world of politics.

Here’s a clip of Lake’s remarks at the recent AmericaFest event:



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