Five things you need to know about incoming US ambassador to SA, Brent Bozell

US president Donald Trump has officially announced Brent Bozell as the next US ambassador to SA. 

Trump’s announcement of Bozell as the incoming US ambassador came in the backdrop of a series of diplomatic fallouts with SA.  Without evidence, Trump has accused SA government of “racial discrimination” against Afrikaners and “confiscating” private land. The US has also taken issue with SA stance against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza and accusing Israel of genocide.

Trump took to X to congratulate Bozell: "Brent is the founder of the Media Search Centre, which has exposed Fake News hypocrites for many years. Brent bring fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience and vast knowledge to a Nation that desperately needs it. Congratulations Brent!" 

Bozell’s appointment come in the wake of the expulsion of Ebrahim Rasool as SA ambassador to the US following critical comments he made about Trump.

Here are the five things you need to know about the incoming US ambassador to SA:

1. Bozell, 64, founded the Media Research Centre – which according to its website has worked successfully to expose and counter the leftist bias of the national news media.
2. According to The Guardian Bozell’s son Leo Brent Bozell IV was sentenced to 45 months in prison in May 2024 for assaulting police and smashing windows in the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots. He was released in January as part of Trump’s mass pardon
3. He was initially nominate to head up the USA's Agency for Global Media, however, that nomination was withdrawn
4. Bozell was born in Washington DC into a family that was active in conservative politics.
5. He has authored and co-authored books including Collussion: How The Media Stole The 2012 Election and How To Stop Them From Doing It in 2016 with Tim Graham

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