President Donald Trump called on two US professional sports teams to revert to their prior names that were changed after years of controversy over them being ethnically offensive to native Americans.
The two teams, the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians) and the NFL’s Washington Commanders (formerly Redskins), were requested to “immediately change” their names by the president from his Truth Social account on Sunday. The president argues that the former names carry a heritage honorable to native Americans that was replaced by the need to be politically correct and promptly create a new name in replacement.
The Guardians’ ownership changed its team name in 2021. For the Washington football team, the transition to “Commanders” was made the following year.
On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump called similarly for the Guardians’ name reversion at an Ohio rally.
“I like sports and I like tradition. So you have a team called the Cleveland Indians. Indians. They’re Indians. And they took the team Cleveland Indians and made it to the Cleveland Guardians. Almost like they’re in charge of a trust fund,” Trump said at the time.
Guardians President Chris Antonetti responded to Trump’s current demand, backing the organization’s decision to change its team name, in a comment provided to Cleveland.com on Sunday.
“I understand there are very different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but it’s a decision we made and we’ve gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and we’re excited about the future that’s in front of us,” Antonetti stated.
Trump’s call for the Washington Commanders to revert to the Redskins is accompanied by a possible restriction on the team’s new stadium to be built in the District of Columbia.
In February, Commanders owner Josh Harris wrote that the team name will not be changed. According to Harris, the name is “now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff. We’re going with that.”
A Washington Post-Schar School poll indicated that over 50 percent of Commanders fans and locals support the present name, which marks a considerable increase from one year before.
“In May, 50 percent of local people — and 62 percent of Commanders fans — said they either ‘like’ or ‘love’ the name. Roughly a year earlier, the same poll showed 34 and 36 percent, respectively,” the Washington Post reported.
