But now, that’s exactly what the news-anchor-turned-twice-failed-candidate is trying to do.
In a social media post Tuesday night, Lake announced a “partnership” between the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, and the far-right news outlet One America News Network. OAN would provide “newsfeed services” for no charge to fill the airwaves of USAGM networks, including the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Martí and VOA.
Were such a partnership to play out, networks that once broadcast award-winning journalism into press-hostile countries would now beam in one of the most Trump-sycophantic outlets on the American airwaves.
Founded in 2013, OAN has become known for its pro-Trump, far-right stance in its cable news shows and online digital media content. It regularly promotes conspiracy theories, particularly that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. The network has been sued for its reckless “coverage,” ultimately settling lawsuits with voting software company Smartmatic, a former executive of Dominion Voting Systems and two Georgia election workers.
The network already has close ties to the administration. Former Florida congressman-turned-failed-attorney-general-nominee Matt Gaetz — a lot of failed this-or-thats in the Trump orbit — is a host for the network. Gaetz had to turn to a sixth-rate right-wing cable news channel after his attorney general campaign crumbled because nobody likes him and because of a now-released House Ethics Committee report about his sexual misconduct in Congress.
There’s a catch in the deal, though, as even Lake is honest enough to admit. “In my current role as Senior Advisor to USAGM, I don't have editorial control over the content of VOA and OCB programming,” she tweeted, “but I can ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs.”
🚨ANNOUNCEMENT🚨
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) May 7, 2025
"United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is excited to announce a partnership with One America News Network (OAN) to provide newsfeed services to USAGM networks, including Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Radio Martí, and Voice of America (VOA).
This…
It’s not clear if USAGM will go forward with the partnership. Lake did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, nor did a representative for the agency. That’s hardly surprising, since USAGM has been the locus of a bunch of Lake-related turmoil.
Though she hoped to lead VOA, Lake has spent most of her time at USAGM helping to dismantle it to comply with an executive order from Trump. As a result, she’s faced several lawsuits for putting nearly all of the agency’s employees on leave, overstepping her bounds without congressional approval and allegedly violating freedom of the press as outlined in the First Amendment.
At the end of April, a federal judge temporarily blocked Lake’s dismantling of the VOA and ordered fired employees to be reinstated while the case plays out. But just a day later, a three-judge appellate court panel ruled the district court had overstepped and that the employment dispute should be mediated through labor and employment administrative processes before going to the courts.
The plaintiffs are appealing that ruling, but Lake celebrated the court win — surely a unique feeling for her, given all her court losses in Arizona — on social media. “BIG WIN in our legal cases,” she wrote. “Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency as he seemed to want to.”
If the OAN partnership does go through, it’ll do more than broadcast Trump talking points to the world. It’ll likely broadcast her face, hidden behind her signature airbrushed and poreless filter.
Joining the Trump administration has hardly slowed Lake’s efforts to become a staple of the right-wing cable news circuit. In the past month alone, Lake has posted to her X account nearly 70 minutes of clips from at least 10 guest hits on NewsMax, Piers Morgan and Fox News.
According to Lake’s X account, her most recent appearance on OAN was on April 7, in which she spoke about weeding out “waste, fraud and abuse” within USAGM. In her interview with OAN host Dan Ball, Lake said that she and DOGE had found “rot” and “corruption” in the agency and said that she didn’t “know if it is salvageable.”
Now that USAGM can outsource its news coverage to a Lake- and Trump-friendly fringe network, her tune seems to have changed. Funny how that happens.
