Arizona Republican Kari Lake cleared the air recently surrounding her future in politics.
For some time, people thought Lake might run for office in a different state after losing the race for the open senate spot to U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). Some Republicans thought Lake, born and raised in Iowa, should run against Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) in the Republican primary.
It was also rumored that Lake would run for governor of Arizona again since she lost by a small margin to current governor Katie Hobbs in a controversial race in 2022. A second run for governor seemed less likely after Trump appeared to back conservative Karrin Taylor Robson in a Truth Social post.
While speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference, Lake was asked about the reports and if she would be interested in running for office again.
“I’m going to Washington, D.C., to help President Trump. That’s what I’m going to do,” Lake told the crowd.
“We’re not where we need to be on elections. And that’s one of the reasons I don’t want to run again, to be honest. Why put yourself through that torture again?” she added.
Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Lake will serve as the director of Voice of America, the international broadcasting media network funded by the federal government.
In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump said that Lake would work with the next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media “to 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. Kari was a beloved News Anchor in Anchor in Arizona, which supported me by record margins, for over 20 years.”
“VOA was established in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda with unbiased news and information. It’s funded by the government through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It is governed by a longstanding charter that legally requires the VOA to report ‘accurate, objective, and comprehensive’ news abroad,” Axios reported. “VOA broadcasts in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly global audience of more than 354 million people.”
Lake thanked Trump on X, adding, “I am honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America. @VOANews is a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth.”
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Lake was one of the top candidates to be Trump’s ambassador to Mexico.
Lake, who has had Trump’s support for years and strongly supports strict border security, came up short in her bid for the Arizona Senate last month to Ruben Gallego, a Democrat. She also lost the 2022 election for governor of Arizona.
“A staunch Trump ally, Lake has remained close to the president-elect over the last few years, backing his unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen. During her most recent run for office, Lake sought to moderate some of her positions, particularly on the topic of abortion. She also made efforts to mend fences with some establishment Republicans whom she had sparred with in the past,” Semafor reported.
“Lake has echoed Trump in backing strict limits on immigration. On the campaign trail, Lake described the influx of migrants entering the US as an ‘invasion.’ She campaigned on finishing the wall at the US southern border, increasing the number of judges who hear asylum claims, stepping up quick deportations of undocumented immigrants who cross outside official ports of entry, and building additional border detention facilities,” the outlet added.
