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President Donald Trump addressed the wave of sports teams that underwent name changes in recent years to remove references to Native American heritage.
Trump called the name changes “degrading to the Indian population.”
“I think it’s degrading to the Indian population, and it’s a great population, and they like when they’re called by various names,” Trump said.
Trump declined to say whether he would try to get the Washington Commanders to change their name back to Redskins as a condition for building a new stadium on federal property. However, Trump did say he believes Redskins was better than the team’s current name.
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“I can tell you that I spoke to people of Indian heritage who love that name and love that team, and I think it’s a much superior name to what they have right now and it had heritage behind it, it had something special,” Trump said.
The Washington Post released a poll in June that found that 58% of fans of Commanders fans said they do not like the team’s new name.
Trump also lambasted the decision to rename MLB’s Cleveland Indians to the Guardians after the end of the 2021 season.
“They changed the name of the Cleveland Indians. Why would you take the name ‘Indians’ off the Cleveland Indians? And now it’s called the Cleveland something else,” Trump said. “So it just doesn’t make sense to me.
“I think it really is demeaning to Indians. But to change the name of the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians, for example, to the Cleveland Guardians is not the same, and I’m sure it has an impact on the team.”
Meanwhile, in Long Island, Massapequa High School’s nickname is the Chiefs, but New York law states that schools must remove logos that are related to indigenous people by the end of the year.
The Massapequa school district sued the state, but a federal judge ruled against the district.
Trump previously spoke out in support of the school’s right to maintain its name.
“I agree with the people in Massapequa, Long Island, who are fighting furiously to keep the Massapequa Chiefs logo on their Teams and School,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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Dec 4, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detailed view of a Washington Redskins logo on a helmet against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
“Forcing them to change the name, after all of these years, is ridiculous and, in actuality, an affront to our great Indian population. The School Board, and virtually everyone in the area, are demanding the name be kept. It has become the School’s identity and, what could be wrong with using the name, ‘Chief’? I don’t see the Kansas City Chiefs changing their name anytime soon! By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my highly capable Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to fight for the people of Massapequa on this very important issue. LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!”
The Commanders and Guardians changed their names from the “Redskins” and “Indians” after public outcry. The Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, and Florida State Seminoles have all been pressed, but have not changed their nicknames.
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