CLEVELAND — President Trump wants Washington’s NFL franchise and Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team to revert to their former names, which where changed in recent years because many considered them racist.
Trump said Sunday on his social media site that “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. 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!!!”
Josh Harris, whose group bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders from former owner Dan Snyder in 2023, said this year the name was here to stay. Not long after taking over, Harris quieted speculation about going back to Redskins, saying that would not happen.
Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti indicated before Sunday’s game against the Athletics that there weren’t any plans to revisit the name change.
“We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously it’s a decision we made. We’ve got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that’s in front of us,” he said.
Both teams have had their current names since the 2022 seasons. Washington dropped Redskins after the 2019 season and was known as the Washington Football Team for two years before adopting Commanders.
Cleveland announced in December 2020 it would drop Indians. It announced the switch to Guardians in July 2021. In 2018, the team phased out “Chief Wahoo” as its primary logo.
The name changes had their share of supporters and critics as part of national discussions about institutions and teams dropping logos and names considered racist.
The Guardians are the fifth name for Cleveland’s baseball franchise. It joined the American League in 1901 as one of the eight charter franchises, as the Blues. It switched to the Bronchos a year later and used the Naps from 1903 through 1914 before moving to the Indians in 1915.
Washington started in Boston as the Redskins in 1933 before moving to the nation’s capital four years later.
Washington and Cleveland share another thing in common. David Blitzer is a member of Harris’ ownership group with the Commanders and holds a minority stake in the Guardians.
Reedy writes for the Associated Press.
