President Donald Trump Roasts Cleveland Indians, Owner For Name Change

Professional sports teams who change their names as a response to woke criticism get mocked; chief among those are the Washington Redskins (now "Washington Commanders") and Cleveland Indians ("Cleveland Guardians").

Donald J. Trump, former U.S. president, roasted the Guardians for changing the organization's image as a bending of the knee to woke mobs. 

As part of Trump's rant about the Guardians, he applied some P.R. pressure on Republican candidate for Senate, Matt Dolan. 

Matt is part of the Guardians' Dolan ownership family who ultimately approved of the "Indians" name change. Dolan holds a contentious connection with Trump; viewed as a rare Republican "opponent" to the ex-U.S. president. In an election rally in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday night, Trump laid into Dolan, the RINO (Republican in Name Only).

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

"I like sports and I like tradition. So you have a team called the Cleveland Indians. Indians. They're Indians," Trump declared. 

"And they took the team Cleveland Indians and made it to the Cleveland Guardians. Almost like they're in charge of a trust fund," he added.

Cleveland went through a complete rebrand in early 2021, relinquishing the "Indians" name and dropping the Chief Wahoo logo. 

Pennant promotes the Cleveland Indians baseball team (from the American League), Cleveland, Ohio, 1950s. It features an image of the team's mascot 'Chief Wahoo.' (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - MARCH 15: Matt Dolan, Republican candidate for Senate, speaks at the Columbiana County Lincoln Day Dinner in Salem, Ohio on Friday, March 15, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Protestors called the use of the Native American man on the logo and team names ‘offense,’ so the Dolan family folded. 

Trump mocked Cleveland's MLB team for bowing to a small group of outraged P.C. protestors with the name change.

 "And my attitude is anybody that changes the name of the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not be a senator. Should not be a governor," Trump said. "I don't know Matt Dolan, but just know that he's the guy that I guess owns the team in some form and he was in charge of changing the name."

Trump has established a clear disapproval of the name change since 2020. He previously posted on Twitter: "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 same people who found the Cleveland "Indians" moniker offensive call for the Atlanta Braves' Tomahawk chop to be banned … not much common sense from these folks, Matt Dolan included.

(Do you agree with Trump's stance on the ‘Indians’ to ‘Guardians’ rebrand? Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com)

VANDALIA, OHIO - MARCH 16: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump  greets law enforcement officers following a rally at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024 in Vandalia, Ohio.  The rally was hosted by the Buckeye Values PAC. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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