Eric Holder: Redskins name 'offensive,' should be changed

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made his feelings on the Washington Redskins' name very clear when asked about it on ABC News, saying he feels the name 'ought to be changed' and that it's 'an offensive name,' reports TMZ.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says that the Washington Redskins' name 'ought to be changed' and that it's 'an offensive name,' reports TMZ. Holder made the comments in an appearance on ABC News. 

More from Holder:

"The Redskins, that organization is a great one. It's a team with a storied history that has huge amounts of support in Washington, D.C., and in the 21st century they could increase their fan base, increase their level of support, if they did something that from my perspective that is so obviously right."

Holder is not the first government official to weigh in on the controversial name. Most prominently, President Barack Obama said last year that if he owned the team, he'd consider changing the name.

In May, 50 senators signed a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging him to change the name, a letter that was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

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Redskins owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly stated he will not change the team's name, and recently NBC announcer Al Michaels said Snyder told him he'll change the name 'over my dead body.'

The Redskins have held that the team name honors Native Americans, while critics allege that the name is racist and offensive toward Native Americans. 

- Molly Geary