Kari Lake was sworn in Monday as special adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media after President Donald Trump originally chose her to a government entity that his senior adviser Elon Musk has since suggested should be dismantled.
The former Phoenix TV broadcaster who lost a run for Arizona’s governor and U.S. Senate seat posted Monday that her swearing-in ceremony happened earlier that morning.
“Looking forward to serving America, streamlining the United States Agency of Global Media and everything it oversees,” Lake wrote on the social media platform X.
Her appointment was shared last week by Voice of America, a branch of the Agency for Global Media and the pro-American news network that Lake originally was appointed to be the lead.
In February, Musk suggested the closure of VOA-affiliated organizations. “Shut them down,” Musk said on X, which he owns.
Arizona politics: RFK Jr.’s ideas about health are influencing Arizonans. Here’s how
VOA reported that Lake’s appointment to head the news agency languished as Trump’s pick to head the Agency for Global Media, L. Brent Bozell III, awaited confirmation from the U.S. Senate. An internal staff announcement on Lake’s appointment shared Lake’s rhetoric to “streamline” the agency, according to the VOA.
The agency’s Office of Public Affairs told The Arizona Republic in a written statement: “Kari Lake has been sworn in as the Trump Administration’s Senior Advisor of USAGM, VOA, and OCB. In this capacity she will oversee and advise agency leadership on Administration priorities as well as implement the policies and strategies needed to streamline the agency, its networks, and its grantees.”
OCB stands for the Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which runs Radio and Telvision Martí, which broadcast into Cuba.
The Agency for Global Media operates with taxpayer dollars and is required to submit a Congressional Budget Justification report that describes the goals and financial needs of VOA and other government media outlets.
Reach reporter Rey Covarrubias Jr. at rcovarrubias@gannett.com. Follow him on X, Threads and Bluesky @ReyCJrAZ.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake sworn in as special adviser to US Agency for Global Media
