Do not fall for Donald Trump’s latest con.
Do you really think he cares one bit about what the NFL team in Washington calls itself? Or whether Cleveland’s baseball team goes by the Guardians or something else? In fact, I’d venture to guess Trump couldn’t even have told you what Cleveland’s current nickname was a few days ago.
But pretending he is outraged! just outraged! that Washington and Cleveland ditched their problematic nicknames creates a distraction from the growing questions about Trump’s close friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and everything that entailed. There’s no scandal Trump hasn’t been able to outrun by injecting “anti-wokeness” into the conversation, and this is more of the same.
He’s like the Wizard of Oz, only with more racism and a dog whistle instead of a curtain. Which should be obvious to all but his most-diehard supporters.
It was, after all, only two weeks ago that Trump expressed what was essentially indifference for Washington’s current nickname.
“I wouldn’t have changed the name. It just doesn’t have the same, it doesn’t have the same ring to me,” he said July 7. “But, you know, winning can make everything sound good. So if they win, all of a sudden the Commanders sounds good.”
Contrast that to his screed Sunday on Truth Social, where Trump attacked Washington and Cleveland for changing their names and even threatened the Commanders’ new stadium because of it. Never mind that it’s likely too late for that, given the federal government has already transferred the land to the District of Colombia.
“If they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington,” Trump wrote.
So what could possibly have changed in the last two weeks? The unrelenting furor over Epstein and scrutiny of Trump’s connections to him.
One of the few things this country can agree on is that Epstein was a garbage human being. He sexually abused girls and underage young women himself, and trafficked them to his rich and powerful friends for similar purposes. He effectively avoided accountability for his crimes, accepting a sweetheart deal on state charges in 2008 and dying by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex.
While there has been a want for more answers in Epstein’s case — did he really die by suicide? who were his clients? — it has become a particular obsession among the right wing and Trump supporters. Trump leaned into this, saying during the 2024 campaign that he would declassify the Epstein files if elected.
In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now” and suggested it would be released.
But earlier this month, the DOJ released a statement saying, “Oops. Never mind.” Epstein had killed himself and there was no client list, according to the DOJ. No proof Epstein had tried to blackmail anyone, either.
It was a curious about-face from folks who have spent years promoting conspiracy theories about Epstein and demanding answers about who else was involved, and it’s infuriated many in MAGA world.
And unlike previous scandals involving Trump, which have had all the staying power of Jell-O, this one won’t go away. The angrier about that Trump gets, the more questions it raises.
Epstein and Trump’s friendship is well-documented. There are multiple photos of the two of them, Trump’s name is on flight logs for Epstein’s private jet and Trump told New York Magazine in 2002 that Epstein was a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Now, however, even some of Trump’s supporters are wondering if there was more to it than that. Media outlets are probing their friendship. Lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, are demanding the Trump administration release all the information they have on Epstein.
Used to directing the narrative, Trump has lost control of it, and he’s pulling out all the stops to change that. He’s tried downplaying it. He’s tried his old favorite of blaming Democrats. He’s even tried insulting the people who’ve been his steadfast supporters since the day he came down that escalator.
Now he’s using the Commanders, Guardians and their decisions to drop offensive nicknames to create a smokescreen, the modern-day equivalent of, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” But just like Dorothy and her friends, the American people can recognize desperation when they see it.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.