White House on Cleveland Indians’ name change: ‘We certainly support their change of name’

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is supportive of the Cleveland Indians’ decision to change the baseball franchise’s name to the Guardians, adding that their view is likely in opposition to that of former President Trump.

“We certainly support their change of name. We may be on the other side of the president — former president, on that front, I would guess. I haven’t seen his tweet or however he’s communicating these days,” Psaki said, when asked if President Biden had a reaction to the name change.

The reporter mentioned that Trump criticized the change. Trump, in a statement on Friday, said that “many Indians” will likely be upset by the decision.

“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,” Trump said. 

“And I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country,” Trump added. 

The Major League Baseball team announced its decision Friday morning. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) lauded the new name on Twitter while others noted it would take a while for them to get used to it.

Trump has a history of bashing professional sports teams for changing names deemed as racist. He criticized Cleveland’s baseball team last year, as well as the Washington Football Team — formerly the Washington Redskins — accusing them both of trying to be too be politically correct.