In an entertaining development in the latest online culture war squabble, President Donald Trump hinted that he might take a dramatic action to force the Washington Commanders to change their name back to the “Washington Redskins,” suggesting that he could block their plans to construct a new D.C. stadium unless they change their name back.
As background, it all started when, on Sunday, July 20, President Trump reopened the long-running but often-dormant culture war battle over sports team names, particularly whether references to American Indians should be erased because they are “racist” or kept because they are fun and part of America’s heritage and history.
In his post, the president said that the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians need to change their names back to the Redskins and Indians, respectively, writing, “The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past.”
He added, calling on owners to push forward a return to common sense that honors our heritage, “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!!!”
As could be expected, that blew up into a new front in the culture war battle. President Trump, leaning into that aspect of it with a second post on Truth Social, suggested that he could delay their attempts to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C. to punish them for keeping to the leftist side in the culture war.
Beginning that second post, the president said he “won’t make a deal” on their behalf for building a new stadium unless they change the name back, saying, “My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way. I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original “Washington Redskins,” and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, “Washington Commanders,” I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington.”
He added that the deal would be better for all involved if they changed their name back and let him make a deal on their behalf, adding as he did so that the Cleveland Indians should change their name back as well. He said, “The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone. Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians.”
"*" indicates required fields
Ending the post with more comments on that front, Trump attacked the owner of the Indians for not changing the name back, saying, “The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn’t understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!”
Watch Sen. Daines’ commentary on how the Redskins could change their name back below: