President-elect Donald J. Trump on Wednesday night chose Kari Lake to lead Voice of America, aiming to put a fierce loyalist who has called journalists “monsters” in charge of a federally funded news outlet that reaches hundreds of millions of people around the globe.
Mr. Trump was accused of using his appointees to try to turn Voice of America, whose aim is to offer unbiased news to audiences around the world, into a pro-Trump propaganda outlet during his first term. In his announcement of Ms. Lake, a local TV news anchor turned election denier who lost races for Senate and governor in Arizona, Mr. Trump hinted that he believed he had found an ally to try to reshape its coverage.
Ms. 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,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post.
In 2022, Ms. Lake’s campaign for governor often leaned more on her vitriol toward news outlets and reporters than on her criticisms of the Democratic Party and her opponent, Katie Hobbs, now the governor of Arizona. Her attacks on the press mirrored those of Mr. Trump. Referring to journalists as “monsters,” she pledged to be reporters’ “worst nightmare” if elected.
“Let’s defund the press,” she said during one of her rallies.
She is set to sit atop an organization with a nearly $300 million budget and more than 2,000 employees, broadcasting in nearly 50 languages to a weekly audience of more than 326 million people. Founded in 1942, the outlet has a mission to counter propaganda and disinformation coming from authoritarian countries like China, Russia and Iran.
Mr. Trump’s White House attacked Voice of America over its editorial decisions during his first term, and his appointees were accused of trying to weaken journalistic safeguards.
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