His administration accuses VOA of spreading ‘radical propaganda’ and promoting ‘anti-American’ stories.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Congress to “kill” the Voice of America (VOA), marking his administration’s second attempt since his return to office.

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“Why would a Republican want Democrat ‘mouthpiece,’ Voice of America, to continue? It’s a TOTAL, LEFTWING DISASTER — No Republican should vote for its survival. KILL IT!,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Calling for shutting down VOA back in February, Elon Musk, then head of the Department of Government Efficiency, posted on his social platform X, “It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching 1 billion U.S. dollars a year of U.S. taxpayer money.”

The Trump administration in March issued a statement branding the broadcaster as “The Voice of Radical America,” accusing it of spreading “radical propaganda” and promoting “anti-American” stories. The statement cited the outlet’s “anti-Trump content on social media” and its directive to staff “not to call Hamas and its members terrorists, ‘except when quoting statements.'”

Around 1,400 VOA employees have reportedly been dismissed since March. Friday marked the latest round of mass terminations, during which over 600 staff members received layoff notices, cutting the staff count to less than 200.

Echoing Trump, his close ally and Senior Adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Kari Lake on Wednesday also urged Congress to dismantle the news organization.

In a Capitol Hill hearing, Lake depicted VOA as “outrageous,” “deeply corrupt,” “politically biased,” and “a serious threat to our national security,” saying it “has to stop.”

Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA has long been seen by both Republicans and Democrats as an important tool for bringing “voices from America.”

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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