Arizona Republican Kari Lake is finally seeing her MAGA loyalty pay off, as President-elect Donald Trump announced his plans for her to be part of the incoming administration.
In a message on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said he wants Lake to be the next director of Voice of America, a post he will nominate her to once he announces the next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Trump said he will announce this latter post "soon" and that Lake will "work closely" with the appointee 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." The post is currently held by Michael Abramowitz.
Lake quickly reacted to the announcement, saying on X that she is "honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America." She went on to say that the agency is "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."
I am honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America. @VOANews is 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.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) December 12, 2024
With an… pic.twitter.com/UWVdPeF6Ye
"With an audience of 326 million people, Voice of America delivers information in 48 languages. Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America's achievements worldwide," she added.
NBC News detailed that the VOA website states that it "prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news, thereby safeguarding the ability of our journalists to develop content that reflects the highest professional standards of journalism, free of political interference."
Lake worked as a news anchor in Arizona for over 20 years before kicking off her political career. She has since been one of Trump's staunchest supporters, going as far as joining him in his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Lake also claimed without evidence that she was the rightful winner of the Arizona gubernatorial election of 2022, and that Democrat Katie Hobbs unlawfully took the victory. Her claims recently led her to settle an election defamation suit brought forward by a Republican official from Arizona over her defeat.
The Republican official in question, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, told the outlet that "both sides are satisfied with the result." He had sought a public acknowledgement that many statements Lake made about him were not true, as well as damages and attorney's fees. Lake lost the race to Democrat Katie Hobbs by some 17,000 votes.
Lake made of the claims and her embrace of the MAGA world her main tool to appeal to voters. However, even after Trump clearly won the November election, even taking Arizona by a difference larger than five percentage points, she failed to follow his footsteps. Lake lost this year's Senate election against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who got 50.1% of the vote against her 47.7%.
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