Former President Donald Trump is offering his thoughts on the Cleveland Indians’ decision to change their name to the Cleveland Guardians.
In a statement on Friday, Trump said, “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,” he continued.
Finally, he said, “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 are forcing these changes to destroy our culture and heritage.”
Read the statement below:
Former President Trump slams the Cleveland Indians' name change.
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) July 23, 2021
"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.."
More: https://t.co/4hSGalNICQ pic.twitter.com/i6Ju5VxfNt
On Friday, the Major League Baseball team announced it would change its name to the Cleveland Guardians in the next season, as IJR reported.
Team owner and chairman Paul Dolan said in a press release, “We are excited to usher in the next era of the deep history of baseball in Cleveland.”
He continued, “Cleveland has and always will be the most important part of our identity. Therefore, we wanted a name that strongly represents the pride, resiliency and loyalty of Clevelanders.”
Last year, it was reported that the team would change its name in the wake of racial justice protests that broke out after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The team had for years faced criticism that its name was racist.