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For an industrial-strength Trump worshiper like Kari Lake, telling the entire world how wonderful King Donald I is sounds like a dream job. Running the Voice of America was too good to be true for the former local TV anchor. And it was.
First, she is not director yet, merely an advisor. The president does not appoint the director directly. Instead, he appoints the board, subject to Senate confirmation. Trump just fired the entire board and her appointment will now have to wait until he appoints a new board and gets the members through the Senate. In 2021, Joe Biden fired the board, but his choice for director, Amanda Bennett, was not confirmed until 2024. Getting Lake in there could take time.
Meanwhile, more stuff is happening. The Voice of America is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, along with Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia. On March 14, Trump issued a decree shutting down USAGM, even though it is the main source of the truth for millions of people in countries like Russia, China, Belarus, and North Korea. This allows authoritarian regimes to spread their propaganda unchecked. Vlad is glad.
As a consequence of the decree, 1,300 journalists and support staff have been placed on administrative leave. There are few signs that they will be called back to duty. Mike Abramowitz, the current VOA director, now on administrative leave, called it a self-inflicted blow. He said: "It's an incredibly important tool for basic combating of Chinese, Russian, Iranian disinformation, for telling the truth to people living in tyranny." But now, poof, it is gone.
Lake is unhappy with the situation. She spent the past 4 years running around the country praising Trump to the moon. She was promised a great job for her good work. She was hoping to spread the values of freedom (as she sees it) around. Now it is gone, just like that. She is still trying, though, sending out tweets taking credit for achievements like canceling the contract with the Associated Press and other wire services. Who needs actual news for the VOA when there are many White House press releases to read over the air?
As usual these days, USAGM staff heard about their fate by e-mail after hours. Then they were locked out of their accounts. When they showed up for work the next work day to collect their personal belongings, their credentials were confiscated.
Lake went on Steve Bannon's podcast and said: "And so, on day one, I brought a couple of DOGE folks in, and we added to the team and we have an incredible attorney with us as well." The attorney is Mora Namdar, a fierce critic of the VOA who wrote a chapter in the Project 2025 book that said the VOA should be either put under the president's direct control or shut down. Looks like that magically happened. Coincidences happen. Odd.
Poor Lake. She forgot the old maxim: Everything Trump touches dies. (V)