The president of the Massapequa, New York, school board told Newsmax on Thursday she was "shocked" that President Donald Trump weighed in on their local legal battle to retain their mascot name and imagery.
Kerry Wachter joined Newsmax's "National Report" to discuss the battle that began in 2023 when the New York State Board of Regents issued a mandate to remove Native American names and imagery from all public schools, including the Massapequa High School Chiefs.
The school is located in Massapequa, the Long Island town named after the local Indian tribe since the 17th century.
"You know, we did get some press in the beginning, New York Post and a couple other outlets, where we asked for President Trump to please get involved. And to our surprise, he actually did. So yeah, we were very excited to hear him call out the Massapequa Chiefs," Wachter said.
In a post on Truth Social earlier this week, Trump said, "I agree with the people in Massapequa, Long Island, who are fighting furiously to keep the Massapequa Chiefs logo on their Teams and School. Forcing them to change the name, after all of these years, is ridiculous and, in actuality, an affront to our great Indian population."
As of now, the Massapequa School District is on the hook for about $1 million in rebranding if they're not successful in overturning a federal judge's ruling in support of the original mandate.
"And you know, the legal battle, too, is not over. It's just a tough road. And the federal judge said that we didn't have standing. So there are some pathways there. But we have a looming deadline on June 30th to be 75% compliant to have everything removed," Wachter said, adding that the "Chiefs" imagery is "everywhere."
"It's in our fields, it's in the floors, it's on the walls. It's everywhere. And it's not just at the schools, you know, it's throughout our town. And we're named Massapequa for the Massapequa Indians who were here before us," she added. "So, you know, it's disingenuous for them to say that it's, you know, an insult or that we're doing something disparaging. We're remembering the legacy and the people who were here before. We do that with our name. We do that with our team name. And we do it with the imagery.
"So, you know, we're in this fight and we're glad to have President Trump on our side. And we hope that we'll be successful," Wachter said.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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