Cape Town – US President Donald Trump has nominated conservative activist and media critic Leo Brent Bozell as the next US Ambassador to South Africa.
Bozell, founder of the Media Research Centre, a watchdog group focused on liberal media bias, has yet to be officially announced by Trump, but his nomination was confirmed by a Congressional website, SABC News reported on Tuesday.
His name has been submitted to the Senate and will undergo the confirmation process.
Washington has been without an ambassador to South Africa for three months since Donald Trump took office, amid strained relations between the two governments.
A Bloomberg report says US President Donald Trump has nominated Leo Bozell III as the country’s ambassador to South Africa. This comes as diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Washington continue to deteriorate. #Newzroom405‘s US correspondent Simon Marks elaborates.
Watch:… pic.twitter.com/ZlWCPbjbXL
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 25, 2025
Bozell was initially nominated to lead the USA’s Agency for Global Media, but that nomination was withdrawn, EWN reported.
He will face a confirmation vote before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the coming weeks.
The nomination comes amid strained US-South Africa relations, following the recent expulsion of US envoy Ebrahim Rasool.
Notably, Bozell’s son, Leo Brent Bozell IV, was involved in the January 6th Capitol riot, receiving a four-year prison sentence before being pardoned by Trump this year.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
