White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said President Biden supports the decision by the Cleveland Indians to change their name.
“We certainly support their change of name,” Psaki said when asked about it at her daily press briefing.
Psaki also used the question to take a swipe at Biden’s predecessor, saying she hadn’t seen former President Donald Trump’s “tweet, or however he’s communicating these days,” making jeering note that the ex-president is banned from his formerly favored platform.
“We may be on the other side of the president — former president — on that front, I would guess. I haven’t seen his tweet, or however he’s communicating these days,” she said.
The professional baseball team said Friday it will now be known as the Cleveland Guardians. The former name referring to Native Americans had been used since 1915.
They changed their name after the Washington Redskins last year renamed themselves the Washington Football Team after a long-running campaign by American Indian activists.
But Trump said the Indians’ move was wrong.
“Can anybody believe that the Cleveland Indians, a storied and cherished baseball franchise since taking the name in 1915, are changing their name to the Guardians? Such a disgrace, and I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country,” Trump said in an emailed statement.
“Wouldn’t it be an honor to have a team named the Cleveland Indians, and wouldn’t it be disrespectful to rip that name and logo off of those jerseys? The people of Cleveland cannot be thrilled and I, as a FORMER baseball fan, cannot believe things such as this are happening. A small group of people, with absolutely crazy ideas and policies, is forcing these changes to destroy our culture and heritage. At some point, the people will not take it anymore!”