Donald Trump Slams ‘Cancel Culture’ After Report That Cleveland Indians Are Changing Their Name
Donald Trump is attacking what he called “cancel culture” after reports that the Cleveland Indians were planning to change their name after years of opposition from Native American groups.
Reports on Sunday indicated that the MLB franchise would be following the example of the former Washington Redskins and dropping their controversial nickname. The president had a bad reaction to the news, tweeting his opposition and claiming it was the result of “cancel culture.”
“Oh no! What is going on? This is not good news, even for ‘Indians’. Cancel culture at work!” he tweeted.
As ESPN reported, the team was expected to formally announce the change later in the week, which comes after they already dropped the controversial Chief Wahoo logo that had long been decried as a racist depiction. It was not clear what new nickname the team will select.
While Trump spoke out against the decision, others praised the move, including the Oneida Nation of New York. As ESPN noted, the Native American group led the Change the Mascot Movement calling on teams to drop insensitive mascots and nicknames. The group said the decision to drop the name was the result of decades of hard work from advocacy groups.
“Groups like the National Congress of American Indians passed resolutions for decades on this, social science has made clear these names are harmful and Cleveland got out in front of it and they’re leading, and rather than having this hanging over their heads, they’re charting a new path,” the organization said in a statement to ESPN.
Breaking: The Cleveland Indians will be dropping their nickname, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, confirming a report by The New York Times. pic.twitter.com/PafAhvgDN7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 14, 2020
Trump has frequently spoken out about political correctness and protests in sports, vocally opposing NFL players who took a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality. He has also criticized athletes who have spoken out against him, including an infamous interaction where NBA star LeBron James called him a “bum” after Trump publicly uninvited the Golden State Warriors from visiting the White House following criticism from Steph Curry.
Trump had a similar criticism earlier this year when the Washington Football Team announced their new name, taking to Twitter to accuse both franchises of being weak and giving in to what he said was political correctness. He also called out the Cleveland baseball club, which at that point was without its controversial mascot.
“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,” Trump tweeted.
