Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is weighing in on a controversial topic: The Washington Redskins’ right to keep its team name.
“I don’t think it should change,” the former governor of Florida said on the inaugural episode of “The Arena” radio program, set to debut Friday afternoon on Sirius XM’s POTUS Channel 124. “But again, I don’t think politicians ought to be having any say about that, to be honest with you. I don’t find it offensive. Native American tribes generally don’t find it offensive.”
“We had a similar kind of flap with FSU, if you recall, the Seminoles. And the Seminole tribe itself kind of came to the defense of the university and it subsided,” he said. That’s a reference to the NCAA’s decision to let Florida State University keep its Seminoles name in 2005, while Bush was the governor of Florida. “It’s a sport, for crying out loud. It’s a football team. Washington has a huge fan base, I’m missing something here, I guess.”
While the Seminoles name was supported by groups such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Redskins name has not found the same support. In addition to years of protests by Native American groups against the Redskins moniker, numerous bills have been filed in Congress to force a change. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has even canceled the Redskins trademark.
However despite all of this, the team’s owner, Daniel Snyder has resisted efforts to change the name, and it looks like these efforts have found a supporter in Bush.
The new radio program, hosted by ABC News’ Rick Klein and ESPN’s Andy Katz will debut at 2 p.m. EST Friday, part of a six-show weekly series.
(h/t ABC News)
