Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not happy with President Donald Trump’s U.S. Agency for Global Media, accusing it of backing down from giving vital information to protesters in Iran.
This comes as Iran’s Islamic Republic regime is locked in an existential crisis, with massive protests that are threatening to outright topple the government.
“It’s been a week since the regime in Tehran blacked out the internet, and 10 months since USAGM blacked out its transmitters for Farsi-language @RadioFarda_ from @RFERL,” wrote McConnell in a post to X. “What a waste of America’s tremendous capacity to share the truth. The regime is using the cover of darkness to slaughter brave Iranians who have taken to the streets.”
“When @POTUS speaks to the Iranian people, why on earth would we limit that signal?” added McConnell, who previously served as Republican Senate leader.
USAGM, founded during the Second World War, is an umbrella organization including a number of state-run U.S. news services that broadcast around the world, with the intent to combat foreign propaganda and disinformation and give people in authoritarian regimes an alternative source of information, particularly during times of crackdown and repression.
However, Trump’s choice to head up the agency, former Phoenix news anchor turned multiple-time failed Arizona candidate for office, Kari Lake, has gutted staff of many of the services under USAGM and moved to outright shut down certain programs, as Trump, who has long opposed the agency’s existence, signed an order seeking to dismantle it. Lake is reportedly under investigation for unlawfully moving around funds to support her layoff plans.
In recent months, Lake has taken steps that suggest she is planning to step aside from the USAGM role to run for office in Iowa.
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