Former President Donald Trump ruled out endorsing Ohio Republican lawmaker Matt Dolan in the Buckeye State’s crowded US Senate primary Monday, citing the Cleveland Indians’ decision to change their name to the Cleveland Guardians beginning next season.
Dolan, who has served in the Ohio State Senate since 2017, is the son of Indians principal owner Larry Dolan and a cousin of Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan. The team announced in July that it would change its nickname from Indians, which had been in use since 1915, to Guardians in honor of statues that grace a bridge near Progressive Field and are known as the “Guardians of Traffic.”
“Anybody that changes the name of the once storied Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not be running for the United States Senate representing the Great People of Ohio,” Trump said in an emailed statement. “The Atlanta Braves didn’t change their name, and the Florida State Seminoles didn’t change their chant, but Cleveland has, and they were there first.
“Despite this,” Trump added, “a man named Matt Dolan, the son of the owner of the team, said he is against Cancel Culture. Do those two things really work together? In any event, I know of at least one person in the race who I won’t be endorsing. The Republican Party has too many RINOs!”
Matt Dolan — who has a partial ownership stake in the club, but no formal role in the front office — criticized the decision to change the team’s nickname in December of last year, calling it an unfortunate consequence of the “culture wars.”
Trump himself blasted the name change, calling it a “disgrace” and adding that “I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country”.
Dolan’s brother Paul is the Indians’ chairman and CEO. In a letter to fans following the announcement that the team would adopt the nickname Guardians, Paul Dolan wrote that “the name change will be difficult for many of us, and the transition will take time. It is our hope and belief this change will divert us from a divisive path, and i… (Read more)
