The Washington Redskins asked their legions of fans to send a message Thursday to Harry Reid, who’s been on a campaign lately to shame the team and its owner into dropping its racially charged nickname. It did not go over well.
After the official Redskins Twitter account asked fans to to show the Democratic leader of the Senate their “#RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you,” several users instead lashed out at the offensive name.
@Redskins the team needs to changes its name already and get its fans out of this embarrassing quagmire. I’d like to talk football again.
— Newman, Ted (@deuce4922) May 29, 2014
@Redskins Change the name, dummies! /cc @SenatorReid @dcsportsbog
— BASED JEFF (@JeffInBK) May 29, 2014
@Redskins @SenatorReid I’ll be way more proud of my team if they do the right thing and Change The Name. @changeracism
— RichmondOpus (@RichmondOpus) May 29, 2014
Other users cringed at what immediately seemed like a clumsy P.R. move.
Oh no… RT @Redskins: Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.
— Marc Torrence (@marctorrence) May 29, 2014
@Redskins @SenatorReid This team has ZERO self-awareness.lol
— statsjeff (@statsjeff) May 29, 2014
Reid has been aggressive in his criticism of the team name for the last few months. In March, he mocked Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s foundation aimed at reducing poverty on Indian reservations.
“Dan Snyder, he’s got a great new deal,” Reid told the Washington Post. “He’s going to throw a few blankets to the Indians and get a tax deduction for it. I can’t imagine why the man doesn’t realize that the name is going to change. It’s only a question of when it’s going to change. That’s the only question.”
Last week, 50 senators, including Reid, sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, calling on the league to “take action to remove the racial slur from one of its marquee franchises.”