Never one to bring subtlety to a debate, Republican Rep. Steve King took to Twitter Wednesday evening to weigh in on the debate surrounding the name of the Washington Redskins.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Wednesday morning canceled six U.S. trademark registrations for the D.C.-based NFL team, calling the name “disparaging to Native Americans,” which prompted this response from the Iowa Republican:
Obama raids Redskins by weaponizing USPTO. Cancels Redskins logo! Free people will not tolerate a Kim Jong POTUS.
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) June 18, 2014Predictably, the Twitterverse was quick to respond:
@SteveKingIA Your tears taste sweet. Cc @daveweigel
— So Jim Very Henley (@UOJim) June 19, 2014@a_girl_irl What part of Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946 is dictatorial, @SteveKingIA? Or is any bill written 70+ yrs ago bad?
— Andrew Cybulska (@Andrew_Cybulska) June 19, 2014I'd like to thank @SteveKingIA for providing us with this fine example of authentic frontier gibberish #tcot #uniteblue
— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) June 19, 2014@SteveKingIA Did you get hacked?
— jewylie (@jewylie) June 19, 2014@Southern_Philly Some of these guys are so wack I can't tell if they're serious or not.
— InsultComicDog (@InsultComicDog) June 19, 2014@SteveKingIA @daveweigel Don't you have better things to do. Like, for instance, your job? #WhereAreTheJobs
— Steven Nelson (@snelsonus) June 19, 2014@SteveKingIA Do you just pick word cards from different piles to make these sentences?
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) June 19, 2014@jdandeneau @SteveKingIA Remember when Kim Jong broke up the Mets?
— TBogg (@tbogg) June 19, 2014#NotTheOnion MT @SteveKingIA Obama raids Redskins by weaponizing USPTO.Cancels Redskins logo! Free people will not tolerate a Kim Jong POTUS
— Erik (@dexhandle) June 19, 2014With regard to Wednesday’s decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Bob Raskopf, trademark attorney for the Redskins, said he is confident the decision will be overturned on appeal based on prior hearings.
The trademarks at issue will remain on the federal register and not be listed as “canceled” until after judicial review is complete. Meanwhile, Pro Football Inc., owner of the involved registrations, will lose legal benefits of the trademarks if an appeal is not filed or if cancellation is affirmed after possible review by a federal court.
Additional reporting by Michele Richinick.
Nick Ramsey
Nick Ramsey is a senior producer with MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.”