Kari Lake, the Trump-appointed special adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, has raised an unsubstantiated claim that US Representative Greg Stanton had a ‘gay lover’ during a congressional hearing.
Kari Lake, who is the failed Republican Party nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election and in the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona, appeared in a hearing over the fate of Voice of America, the USA’s official broadcaster.
During the hearing, during which Lake defended stripping back the USAGM, she appeared opposite Arizona Representative Greg Stanton.
It was then that she used the false claim about Stanton having a “gay lover” as an example that Voice of America was spreading fake news.
Lake said that the broadcaster, which is editorially independent and State-run “can put out absolute, abject lies and we can’t control” because “we have no say about what the editorial content is.”
Turning her attention to Stanton, she added, “They could literally put out a lie about anybody here. And I know you have been the victim of that. I remember the stories about you where they said you had a gay lover, and those were going around.”
She continued: “You couldn’t pick up the phone, Representative Stanton, and call them and say ‘Hey, you’re putting out lies about me’, you would not be able to do that…”
Lake added: “How would you like it if those lies were put on Voice of America right now?” (via The Daily Beast)
Rep. Bill Keating immediately asked for Lake’s remarks on Stanton’s sexuality to be stricken from the record.
Lake’s remarks were reportedly in response to Stanton calling out Lake’s continued refusal to admit defeat in the 2022 gubernatorial election.
“You ran for governor in Arizona in 2022. You lost, fair and square. Instead of conceding, you embarrassed yourself and our state by lying again and again for years, blaming everything under the sun for your loss except for your own toxic politics. You lie about that election to this very day,” he said (via AZ Central).
The publication also reports that Stanton did not reply to the claims, but that a spokesperson said his only response would be his “Happy Pride Month!” post on X, complete with rainbow emoji.
Happy Pride Month! 🌈 https://t.co/IlXyViufvs— Rep. Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) June 25, 2025
Arizona publication The Phoenix New Times reports that, “Lake appears to have made those ‘stories’ up. There seems to be no evidence of any old ‘stories’ about Stanton’s sexuality, nor did Lake specify who ‘they’ were.”
Lake, who is a special adviser to USAGM, and oversaw an 85 percent cut of its personnel from March, when Trump signed an executive order gutting the agency. USAGM is directly responsible for VOA.
Is Greg Stanton gay?
Greg Stanton is not gay, and has been married to his wife, Nicole Stanton, since 2005. The pair share two children.
There is no evidence that Stanton ever had a “gay lover”, as Lake alleged stories had claimed.
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