After losing two elections in AZ, Kari Lake tapped to lead Voice of America

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he had picked Kari Lake, a former newscaster who lost two statewide races in Arizona in 2022 and 2024, to lead the Voice of America. The move places one of his staunchest loyalists at the helm of the taxpayer-funded broadcaster that provides independent news reporting around the world.

Lake was a Phoenix television news anchor for almost 30 years until 2021, when she left her anchor job at the local Fox affiliate following a series of blunders and controversial statements on social media, including accusing the #RedForEd movement to increase teacher pay of being a front for marijuana legalization and spreading COVID-19 misinformation during the coronavirus pandemic.

She brought similar evidence-free claims to her political career, which she launched shortly after leaving her television gig, embracing Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and modeling her political persona after his aggressive and grievance-fueled demeanor.

Although Lake quickly built a loyal following among Arizona Republicans by tying herself to Trump, defeating the wife of a wealthy developer who had a long history in GOP politics in the 2022 gubernatorial primary, she struggled to generate support beyond the MAGA movement. In 2022, she lost the race for governor to Katie Hobbs by 17,000 votes, owing in large part to her alienation of moderate Republicans and center-right independent voters, many of whom soured on her after she said that supporters of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain should “get the hell out” of the GOP.

But in true Trump fashion, Lake refused to acknowledge that she had lost, instead making outlandish claims about election fraud that were supported by no evidence. When she brought those allegations to court and asked to be declared governor, they were rejected — in two separate trials — after she failed to provide any proof. Her final appeal was dismissed barely a month ago when the Arizona Supreme Court declined to take up her case.

That dismissal came a day after the 2024 election, which saw voters again reject Lake, this time in a bid for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Ruben Gallego. Lake lost that election by almost 81,000 votes; this time, she didn’t contest it or try to overturn the results.

Trump has in the past been a fierce critic of Voice of America, including saying in 2020 that “things they say are disgusting toward our country,” and a White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money “to speak for authoritarian regimes” because it covered the lifting of lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged.

Voice of America was founded during World War II, and its congressional charter requires it to present independent news and information to international audiences. Upon taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration swiftly removed a number of senior officials aligned with Trump from Voice of America.

Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com.