Donald Trump isn't happy with the Washington Redskins after the team announced a name change was on the way.
The nickname has long been a point of discussion and after coming under even more fire in recent times, owner Daniel Snyder announced on July 3rd a "thorough review" of the name — a derogatory slur for Native Americans — was underway.
On Monday morning the team released a statement explaining they would be retiring the offensive nickname and rebranding the franchise, without naming a replacement for the time being.
But the call to review the name and announce a change would be made hasn't sat well with more than a few. None bigger, however, than President of the United States Donald Trump.
On his favourite medium, Twitter, Trump took aim at the political correctness behind the move.
They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!
But on the same day the change was announced, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany doubled down on Trump's defiant tweet and said they have proof Native Americans aren't on board with the name change.
"His tweet made it clear that these teams named their teams out of strength, not weakness, and he talked about the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians looking at changing their names," McEnany told reporters.
"He says that he believes the Native American community would be very angry at this and he does have polling to back him up," she continued.
McEnany pointed to a poll ran in 2016 by the Washington Post, which the White House states nine out of 10 Native Americans didn't find the NFL team's nickname to be offensive.
"The Washington Post notes that many of these Native Americans voiced admiration for the team name like Barbara Bruce who said, 'I'm proud of being Native American and of the Redskins. I'm not ashamed of that at all. I like that name.'"
"Gabriel Nez, another 29-year-old from the Navajo community: 'I really don't mind. I like it.'
"There are several other comments like this in the Washington Post," McEnany added.
McEnany explains that Trump is opposed to the Washington Racial Slurs changing their name (because of course he is) pic.twitter.com/RcAND6HF81
Despite McEnany stating Native Americans weren't offended by the nickname, the Navajo Nation released a statement proclaiming it to be a historic day with the ending of the racist name.
"July 13, 2020 is now a historic day for all Indigenous peoples around the world as the NFL Washington-based team officially announced the retirement of the racist and disparaging "Redskins" team name and logo," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez wrote.
"This change did not come about willingly by the team's owners, but by the mounting pressure and advocacy of Indigenous peoples such as Amanda Blackhorse, and many other warriors who fought long and hard for this change.
"We strongly encourage the NFL Washington organisation to rename their team in such a way that truly honours and respects the First Americans of this country. Renaming the team "Code Talkers" to honour the Navajo Code Talkers, and other tribal nations who used their sacred language to help win World War II, would set the team on a path to restoring its reputation and correcting the historical misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples."
