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President-elect Donald J. Trump’s selection of Kari Lake to head up the Voice of America (VOA) isn’t going over well with some and the political news website The Hill has given a forum to those grumbling about the choice.

The former television news reporter would seem to be a great fit to preside over the government propaganda outfit to keep it honest, with Trump stating that she would “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.”

But the inability to retain control over the messaging has some balking, and they expressed their discontent to The Hill days after the outlet published an op-ed from two Ivy League law professors calling for House Democrats to refuse to certify Trump’s landslide election win on January 6, 2025.

“The VOA was originally designed to be objective and independent,” whined one Trump-hating ex-broadcast news exec-turned-media commentator.

“Kari Lake’s appointment as head signals that the VOA will become a global mouthpiece for President Trump,” Joe Peyronnin told the outlet.

“Trump has nominated a plethora of angst-generating MAGA insiders to positions in the Cabinet and federal agencies. Kari Lake follows his model,” complained Boston University professor emeritus Tobe Berkovitz, another Trump hater cherry-picked by The Hill for its piece trashing Lake.

“Like Patel, Hegseth, Weldon, Makary and Kennedy she is anathema to workers currently in these organizations,” added Berkovitz whose area of expertise is political communications.

“It’s true to say that globally Trump is less popular overseas than he is in the United States, so this sounds like a tactic to frame the perception through VOA in a more pro-Trump way,” claimed Georgetown University associate professor of politics, Hans Noel.

According to the piece, “Several Voice of America employees declined to comment or refused to speak on the record to The Hill about what Lake leading the agency could mean for its direction, fearing retribution.”

“It would be an absolute shame to let the fake news cover America’s resurgence under Trump without pushback,” Lake said in a recent X post. “At Voice of America, we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen. We will get the truth out there.”

“Unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media, with Kari Lake leading Voice of America the international community will have access to real reporting ensuring that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcasted around the world,” a Trump-Vance transition spokesperson told The Hill.

In a Thursday post to X, Lake wrote. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘You’re just going to turn @VOANews into Trump TV.’ No, that’s not what I want, & I don’t believe that’s what President Trump wants either.”

“What we want is a fair & accurate portrayal of this great nation of ours,” she added. “Some countries we broadcast to don’t even have a free press. We can spread freedom by telling the American story.”

Chris Donaldson
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