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Trump says Cleveland Indians changing name is 'cancel culture at work', Internet calls him 'a racist'

Trump’s comments came after the baseball team announced it was considering dropping its name since it has been considered a racial slur

President Donald Trump has expressed irritation at Cleveland Indians’ decision to change its name after facing years of backlash. Sharing a story about the name change, POTUS wrote on Twitter, “Oh no! What is going on? This is not good news, even for “Indians”. Cancel culture at work!” Trump’s comments came after the baseball team announced it was considering dropping its name since it has been considered a racial slur.

Cleveland has used “Indians” for the last 105 years, but in recent years, the team has faced backlash and pressure from Native American groups and others to drop it because they feel it is insensitive and disrespectful. Two years ago, Cleveland Indians dropped its old Chief Wahoo mascot and logo after the league said it was “no longer appropriate.” Now the team uses the letter "C" instead of the previous logo. However, a source close to the team said that “Indians” will be used on uniforms throughout 2021 until the whole rebrand is planned.

This comes after the franchise announced in July that the nationwide social justice reckoning helped them “underscore the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice. Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.” Trump had then criticized the team as well as the Washington football team by calling them “weak”. “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. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!" the Republican leader stated.

Many people took to Twitter to express their views on the recent development as well as to Trump’s reaction. One such user commented: “@realDonaldTrump consistently demonstrates that he is a Racist. Here is more proof. #TrumpIsARacist.” The second user said, “Whats their new name going to be? Cleveland Baseball Team. Thats as original as Washington Football Team. Please stop destoying American with cancer culture and learn our history.”

“Dropping the use of human beings as mascots, in particular Native Americans who were victims of genocide, is not cancel culture. Actual cancel culture is Trump falsely accusing the Central Park 5 of rape and paying the New York Times to publicly call for their brutal executions,” a third user noted. While the fourth one added, “I’m honestly heartbroken. It’s unbelievable. If the Indians need to change so do the Vikings, cowboys, Texans, buccaneers, braves, seminoles, giants, and Patriots.”

“Removing the name Indians should be insulting to Indians,I would think.If I were a Native American,I would have no problem with a team being named Cleveland Indians. It should be a compliment, and matter of pride.I just don’t get it. Should Patriots be offended by the NE Patriots?” the fifth user asked. Another one tweeted, “Crazy!!! Let’s just change everything to appease the left since everything offends them!!! Can we just split blue states and red states and form a red country and a blue country!!! I guarantee the left would be knocking at our boarders to let them in once they wake up!!!!”