Leo Brent Bozell III founded the Media Research Center – whose website states it is “a blog site designed to broadcast conservative values, culture, and politics [and] to expose liberal media bias” – in 1987.

His 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.

The 69-year-old’s nomination, which needs to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, comes after South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled earlier this month, and amid US claims that South Africa is discriminating against its white minority.