President Trump on Sunday publicly demanded that the Washington Commanders change the team name back to the Redskins— labeling them derisively the “Washington Whatever’s.”
He also said the Cleveland Guardians should revert to being the Indians.
Both teams had rebranded several years ago due to concerns that their Native American-inspired names were offensive, but Trump argued that the pendulum has since swung back against political correctness.
“The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this,” Trump declared, unprompted on Truth Social Sunday.
“Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past,” the president went on. “Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago.”
“We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”
In 2020, after long resisting pressure to do so, the Washington Commanders retired the old name, the Washington Redskins. For two years, they played as the Washington Football Team before eventually deciding to call themselves the Commanders in 2022.
The Cleveland Guardians announced plans to ditch its old name, the Cleveland Indians, in late 2020 — after dropping the “Chief Wahoo” logo years earlier.
