Jeb Likes The Redskins Team Name So Much He Added It To His Stump Speech

Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a campaign stop Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, in Bedford, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush feels so strongly about the Washington Redskins team name that he’s incorporated his support for it into his stump speech.

As the Washington Post reported Thursday, the former Florida governor told attendees at a New Hampshire town hall that the “Washington” half of the name was the only offensive part.

“If they’re going to change their name, I don’t know what you’d call it,” Bush said, according to the Post. “North Virginia Redskins or something like that.”

Bush first introduced this suggestion on a visit to radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show last week, when he said the chaos over the succession for House speaker showed that “Washington is a pejorative term, not the Redskins.”

Bush told the crowd in New Hampshire he sees the uproar over the name as an example of excessive political correctness.

“If that’s what they want, leave them alone, for crying out loud,” he said, via the Post. “Let’s worry about the complicated nature of our regulations and taxes and other things.”

Bush insisted in a September interview that Native American tribes “generally don’t find it offensive,” though the Oneida tribe has carried out a “Change the Mascot” campaign targeting the team since 2013.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: