Trump appoints failed candidate Kari Lake to head Voice of America | News about the 2024 US election

The US president-elect names a supporter known for denying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

US President-elect Donald Trump has named Kari Lake, a former television news anchor who ran unsuccessful Senate and gubernatorial campaigns in Arizona, as his choice to lead the government-funded global media organization Voice of America (VOA).

Trump said on Wednesday that Lake, who has been criticized for his harsh views on immigration and denial of the results of the 2020 presidential election, will work closely with the yet-to-be-announced next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

In her role, Lake will ensure “that American values ​​of freedom and freedom are spread FAIRLY and ACCURATELY around the world, in contrast to the lies spread by the fake news media,” Trump said in a statement on his platform Truth Social.

Funded by the U.S. Congress and disseminating news online, on radio and on television, VOA operates in more than 40 languages ​​and reaches an audience of more than 354 million people worldwide each week.

During Trump’s first term as president, reports that USAGM political appointees launched an investigation into then-White House Office Chief Steve Herman over alleged bias against the former president were condemned by media freedom organizations.

In 2020, a bipartisan group of senators said they would review USAGM’s funding after Trump-appointed CEO Michael Pack fired or reassigned numerous senior staff and network executives.

Last year, a report by the independent Office of Special Counsel found that Pack had violated rules designed to prevent political interference in editorial decision-making and abused his authority.