Bush on Redskins: ‘I don’t find it offensive’

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) says he does not find the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins offensive.

“I don’t think [the team] should change it,” he told hosts Rick Klein and Andy Katz in pre-recorded interview for SiriusXM’s “The Arena” airing Friday.

{mosads}“I don’t find it offensive,” Bush said of the franchise’s name. “Native American tribes generally don’t find it offensive.

“It’s a sport, for crying out loud,” the GOP presidential candidate added. “It’s a football team. Washington has a huge fan base. I’m missing something here, I guess.”

Bush said there is precedent for leaving long-standing football names in place. He cited Florida State University’s (FSU) successful bid to keep its Seminoles mascot as proof that compromise on Native American names is possible.

“We had a similar kind of flap with FSU if you recall,” Bush said. “The Seminole tribe itself kind of came to the defense of the university and it subsided.

“I don’t think politicians ought to have any say in that, to be honest with you,” he added.

The owner of the Redskins, Daniel Snyder, has stood firmly behind the team’s name, arguing it isn’t offensive to Native Americans.

Snyder this year donated $100,000 to Right to Rise, a super-PAC this is supporting Bush’s run for the White House.

The controversy over the Redskins name has grown in recent years, with Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), denouncing the nickname as a racist relic of the past that should be discarded.

“Jeb Bush’s support of the Washington football team’s name and mascot is extremely insulting to Native American people and is one of many reasons he will not earn the Native American vote,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.

“The team’s name is a racial slur that perpetuates negative stereotypes of Native American people, and reduces proud cultures to an insulting caricature.”

An appeals board at U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled last summer that the Redskins trademark is offensive and canceled six of the team’s patents, creating a legal battle that is still moving through the courts.

Snyder has repeatedly vowed not to change the name, and has won the backing of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Bush in the interview said the government should not interfere in the NFL’s operations.

“I think it’s a private enterprise and they ought to have as much freedom to do what they want,” he said.

“This is a brand that is hugely powerful, hugely successful [and] has grown under Roger Goodell.”

Bush ranks fifth in the race for the GOP presidential nomination with 9.2 percent support, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings. 

— This story was updated at 3:18 p.m.