House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) believes the Washington Redskins should change their name.
She told The Hill that it “probably would be a good idea if they change the name.”
“So one of the first songs I ever learned in my whole life was, ‘Hail to the Redskins.’ I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was saying, but I’ve known it forever,” she said before acknowledging that Native Americans think it is a slur.
President Barack Obama told the Associated Press that he would think about changing the team’s name if he owned the team and those like Reps. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Tom Cole (R-OK), and John Lewis (D-GA) and Dels. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS) have called on the team to change their name.
Though Redskins owner Dan Snyder has said that he would “NEVER” change the team’s name, speculation about whether he would ramped up when a neighbor of his registered the “Washington Bravehearts” name nearly two weeks ago. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has softened his stance on the issue, saying if even one person is offended the NFL had to listen.