Donald Trump doesn’t think the Redskins should change their name
A week after presidential hopeful Jeb Bush said the Washington Redskins’ name is not offensive and does not require a change, fellow Republican Donald Trump weighed in on the issue as well, agreeing with Bush.
“Honestly, I don’t think they should change the name, unless the owner wanted to,” Trump said, according toThe New York Times. “I know Indians that are extremely proud of that name. They think it’s a positive.”
President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton have both voiced their opposition to the team name.
In 2014, two members of Congress sent a letter to the NFL about the offensive nature of the name.
The Change the Mascot campaign, which aims to educate the public about the impact of the word “redskin,” issued the following statement on Trump’s comments:
“It is hardly surprising that a candidate who labeled Mexican immigrants rapists and calls women “pigs” now says he wants the NFL to continue slurring Native Americans. Donald Trump joins some of the NFL’s ignoble fraternity of billionaires who sit in their office suites and owners boxes happily spending their fortunes denigrating people of color.”
A 2014 poll by the campaign determined that 83 percent of Americans would not use the term to a Native American’s face.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has said he will never change the team’s name.
- Kenny Ducey
