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Gov Kemp delivers unapologetic response when WH suggests name change for Atlanta Braves

September 27, 2022 | | Print Article

Woke posturing took a backseat to photo-ops Monday when President Joe Biden welcomed Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves to the White House.

But as is so often the case with the president’s public appearances, a course-correcting walk back was deemed necessary to assure the right virtues were properly signaled.

The tradition of White House visits for sports teams can be traced back to the 19th century but became a routine practice during President Ronald Reagan’s administration. On Monday, Biden hosted the Braves to honor their 2021 World Series Championship where he took no issue with repeating their name or accepting a personalized jersey adorned with the team’s tomahawk logo.

In fact, after taking umbrage with the state of Georgia and supporting MLB relocating the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of their efforts to bolster voter integrity laws which the president called “Jim Crow on steroids,” Biden declared he was “honored” to host the Braves.

Having already pressured the Cleveland Indians to rebrand as the Guardians and the National Football League’s Washington Redskins to become the Commanders, corporate media couldn’t help but raise the “controversy” of the Braves’ name and their fans’ favored show of support, the tomahawk chop.

“I’m wondering if you or the president has any thoughts about some of the controversial–about the team name–the Braves name, the so-called tomahawk chop, any thoughts on that?” a reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the briefing hours after the president honored the team.

“So, look, we, we believe that it’s important to have this conversation. You know, and, and Native American and Indigenous voices, they should be at the center of this conversation. That is something that the president believes. That is something that this administration believes,” she contended though there was no mention of those groups during the ceremony.

“And he has consistently emphasized that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. You hear that often from this president,” Jean-Pierre continued. “The same is true here. And we should listen to Native American and Indigenous people who are the most impacted by this.”

Listening to those most impacted was precisely what MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he had done when he took into consideration the views of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who are based in North Carolina a few hours outside Atlanta.

“The Native American community in that region is wholly supportive of the Braves program, including the chop. For me, that’s kind of the end of the story,” Manfred had said in the past. “In that market, we’re taking into account the Native American community.”

Richard Sneed, the principal chief of that tribe had also spoken up in defense of the Braves’ fanbase stating, “I’m not offended by somebody waving their arm at a sports game. I’m just not. If somebody is, that’s their prerogative, it’s their right. They can be offended…I don’t know very many, maybe one or two, from my tribe who say, ‘Yeah, I don’t like that.'”

Meanwhile, as Biden honored the team at the White House, he seemingly implied that his own heritage took issue with the team, but abruptly stopped a story about his grandfather midway through in a feeble attempt at humor.

“My grandfather was an All-American football player at Santa Clara,” the president said, “and he was a newspaper guy up in Scranton, PA. His name was Ambrose Finnegan. And when it was the Boston Braves, he didn’t like it. But at any rate, that’s another story.”

By comparison, Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp offered his unabashed support of the Braves franchise in a tweet captioning Jean-Pierre’s comments with, “The [Braves] should always be the Atlanta Braves. Go Braves and Keep Choppin’!”

Kemp isn’t the only GOP leader to show strong support for the team’s traditions as former President Donald Trump has actually joined in on the chop while attending a game.

Kevin Haggerty
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