--- title: Jeb Bush Redskins: He Says Team Name Not Offensive description: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said this week that he doesn't think the Washington Redskins should change their name. canonical: https://time.com/4056055/jeb-bush-redskins/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-30T17:16:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T01:19:32.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush Defends Redskins Name og:description: He said he doesn't think it is offensive. og:url: https://time.com/4056055/jeb-bush-redskins/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b0a03ee88bca5ee/698866435f570f5887b1da67/washington-redskins-jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Washington Redskins NFL football helmet is on display in Pioneer Court to commemorate the NFL Draft 2015 in Chicago on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Defends Redskins Name twitter:description: He said he doesn't think it is offensive. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b0a03ee88bca5ee/698866435f570f5887b1da67/washington-redskins-jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Defends Redskins Name > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f5a52cd0-98ad-4fba-be66-ceec7315ef46&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years [Watch (HLS stream): See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3nRIB78f.m3u8) (2:37)  _Published 2015-06-12. From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:19 AM UTCPublished: Sep 30, 2015 5:16 PM UTC  Washington Redskins NFL football helmet is on display in Pioneer Court to commemorate the NFL Draft 2015 in Chicago on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Washington Redskins NFL football helmet is on display in Pioneer Court to commemorate the NFL Draft 2015 in Chicago on April 30, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Raymond Boyd—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:19 AM UTCPublished: Sep 30, 2015 5:16 PM UTC Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said this week that he doesn’t think the Washington Redskins should change their name, adding he doesn’t believe the pro football team’s name is offensive to Native Americans. “I don’t think they should change it,” he said in an interview with ABC’s Rick Klein and ESPN’s Andy Katz. “But again, I don’t think politicians ought to have any say in that to be honest with you. I don’t find it offensive. Native American tribes generally don’t find it offensive. In recent years the team has faced pressure from local and national political leaders and activist groups to change the name, which they say is a derogatory term for Native Americans. Among them, President Obama, who called for changing it in an interview with the Associated Press. “If I were the owner of the team and I knew that there was a name of my team — even if it had a storied history — that was offending a sizable group of people, I’d think about changing it.” Earlier this year, the Obama Administration [blocked](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2015/07/01/obama-administration-rebuffs-d-c-s-efforts-to-bring-back-the-redskins/) efforts to bring the team, which currently plays in Maryland, back to Washington, D.C. over concerns about the name. Bush also said he “never quite understood what the big fuss was” over allegations that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady schemed to deflate footballs, and called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to adopt a more transparent approach to leading the league. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz criticized Bush in a statement, lumping it with recent controversial comments about minorities. “Jeb Bush’s support of the Washington football team’s name and mascot is extremely insulting to Native American people and is one of many reasons he will not earn the Native American vote,” she said. “The team’s name is a racial slur that perpetuates negative stereotypes of Native American people, and reduces proud cultures to an insulting caricature.” “Over the past few weeks, Jeb Bush has shown a shocking disregard for America’s diverse society,” she added. “First, during an exchange about immigration from Latin America, he slurred American children born in this country to immigrants. Then, he clarified that the offensive term he used was, ‘frankly, more related to Asian people.’ Last week, he insulted African-Americans, implying that they only voted for Democrats because of ‘free stuff,’ and also said America should not have a multicultural society. So much for the Republican Party’s plan to appeal to minorities.” The audio, courtesy of “The Arena” on “SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel,” is below: ## Transcript The younger Bush brother did not make the governor's chair in Florida. The older Bush brother, George W. Bush, did make it in Texas. This is a mixed night for the Bush family. I know we can do better. It requires a new style of leadership, commitment to service to others, and an ability to bring people together rather than divide I wanna be the governor that leads us there. And in Florida, Jeb Bush, 56 to 44 over Buddy MacKay, the Democratic candidate. My brother said in one of his speeches, my brother said he's gonna deliver Florida. [ LAUGH ] He did say That he said it more than once. Will he deliver it? He also told it was going to be a cold Thanksgiving dinner if I don't help him out, and then we're going to carry it. We could be in for a long night as voters decide whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor George Bush will be the next president of the United States. It is that close. ABC News is now going to project that Florida goes to Mr. Bush. While the closest elections in American history Bush has won it. The rigor of the common core state standards must be the new minimum in classrooms. And so for those states that are choosing a path other than common core I say this. You should be aiming even higher. And be bolder and raise standards and ask more for our students and the system. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 Million people. We should give them a path to legal status. Where they work, where they don't receive government benefits, where they don't break the law, where they learn English, and where they make a contribution to our society. Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? I would of and so would of Hillary Clinton. Just to remind everybody and so would of almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got. By the way guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well. George W. Bush. Your brother. Yeah. I mean so just for the news flash to the world that they're trying to find places that there's big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those. I'm running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth where more people have a chance at our success. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate or a bad one. Kinda know how a Republican can win, whether it's me or somebody else. And it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be practical now in the Washington world. Lose the primary to win the general. 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