President Donald Trump took to social media on Sunday morning, campaigning for the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians to revert to their former staff names.
“The Washington ‘Whatevers’ ought to IMMEDIATELY change their identify again to the Washington Redskins Soccer Group,” Trump wrote in a put up on Fact Social. “There’s a large clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of many six authentic baseball groups, with a storied previous.”
There aren’t six authentic Main League Baseball groups, and the Cleveland skilled baseball group had a number of nicknames earlier than the Indians moniker was adopted within the early 1900s.
Within the put up, Trump continued: “Our nice Indian individuals, in large numbers, need this to occur.”
Guardians president Chris Antonetti rapidly stomped out hypothesis sparked by Trump.
“I perceive there are very totally different views on the choice we made just a few years in the past, nevertheless it’s a call we made and we’ve gotten the chance to construct the model because the Guardians over the past 4 years, and we’re excited in regards to the future that’s in entrance of us,” Antonetti stated.
He didn’t absolutely come out and say that the identify won’t ever change again, nonetheless. Cleveland baseball possession is predicted to alter arms inside just a few seasons, as David Blitzer is about to grow to be the bulk stakeholder within the membership by 2028.
The Commanders didn’t launch an announcement.
The Redskins modified their identify to the Washington Soccer Group in 2020 and 2021 earlier than adopting the Commanders in 2022.
After public stress, the Guardians dropped the controversial Chief Wahoo brand in 2018. Cleveland was rewarded with the 2019 MLB All-Star Sport. It didn’t take lengthy for sweeping modifications to observe, because the membership dropped the Indians identify altogether in 2021, rolling out Guardians uniforms, hats and stadium signage.
The Commanders, who had been offered by Dan Snyder and purchased by Josh Harris in 2023, are within the midst of securing a location for his or her proposed $4 billion stadium on the previous RFK Stadium web site.
The federal authorities has threatened to intervene in these negotiations, and on-line hypothesis has already percolated that Trump might maintain that web site hostage, giving Harris an ultimatum to alter the identify again to the Redskins in change for clearance to construct a brand new dome there.
It’s laborious to ascertain a world the place the Commanders and Guardians might attempt to put that toothpaste again within the tube. They ripped the Band-Aids off, upsetting older, conventional followers with their identify modifications in the course of the social unrest of the worldwide pandemic. It will be tremendously troublesome to stroll these modifications again now.
