Kari Lake: Voice of America Is 'Rotten to the Core'

The Trump administration's choice to oversee government-run news outlets like Voice of America told a congressional committee on Wednesday that "it's best to just scrap the whole thing and start over." Kari Lake, the former Arizona newscaster turned Republican politician, testified that the US Agency for Global Media is "rotten to the core" and that any salvageable parts should be put under the control of the State Department, the AP reports.

• Lake appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee days after layoff notices were sent to hundreds of employees at the agency and Voice of America, cutting staff by 85%. With politicians speaking over and around each other, the hearing amounted to a debate on what role journalism should have in spreading American influence abroad.

• Lake said she is following President Trump's directive to cut the dozens of outlets to the core, with most already shut down or sharply curtailed. She characterized many broadcasts as anti-American or promoting liberal bias.
• "I feel like I am suffering through a propaganda war through your testimony," said Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean. "For those of you who think this is about reform, it's not. It's about shutting down media." Other lawmakers brought up Lake's election fraud claims, the Hill reports. "You have yet to acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 election. It concerns me you are now tasked with ensuring the promotion of democracy around the world," said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

• Democrats also pointed to reports about Russia and China stepping up their own media efforts to fill the void left by stilled American voices. Employees at Voice of America's Persian-language branch were hurriedly called back into work at the outset of the Israel-Iran war, only for most of them to be laid off less than a week later.
• Trump backed Lake up in a Truth Social post. "Why would a Republican want Democrat 'mouthpiece,' Voice of America (VOA), to continue?" he wrote. "It's a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER—No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!"
• In a statement to the committee's leaders, the CEOs of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks said Lake hadn't spent a "single minute" with them, the Washington Post reports. "She has not visited our offices or inspected our operations. She has not spent a moment with our editors, journalists, producers, and audience researchers. She has not met with our independent boards of directors," they wrote. "Simply put, Ms. Lake has shown not one iota of interest in our content; nor has she asked us about our plans for reform, restructure, and improvement."