CLEVELAND, Ohio — Reports of the Cleveland baseball team’s intent to drop its longtime nickname of “Indians” after the 2021 season caught the attention of outgoing President Donald Trump.
The president, using his favorite medium, Twitter, sent out a tweet late Sunday night criticizing the planned name-change, calling it “Cancel culture at work!”
Oh no! What is going on? This is not good news, even for “Indians”. Cancel culture at work! https://t.co/d1l0C9g6Pd
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
The New York Times first reported Cleveland’s intent to change its name. A source confirmed to cleveland.com that the club will announce this week its intention to play under the same name and uniforms through 2021, but will drop “Indians” after the upcoming season. A new name has not yet been decided.
Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes reports the name change should not be a surprise as the team signaled that it was likely to happen back in July. However, the team is moving more quickly than expected.
This is not the first time Trump has reacted to a name change. In July, he again used Twitter to criticize the Washington Football Team when it dropped its nickname, complaining of “political correctness.” Trump also defended the former Washington nickname with tweets in 2013.