Tribal Leaders and CT Casino Owners Speak Out Against Trump’s 'Highly Inappropriate' Remarks

Hartford, CT — Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation members, the owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, spoke out Thursday against remarks made by Donald Trump that they consider bigoted and offensive, according to media reports.

The remarks date back to a 1993 congressional testimony in which Trump claimed the Pequots do not “look like Indians” to him. Pequot Chairman Rodney Butler, who is a Democratic delegate and supports Hillary Clinton, said the tribe feels the need to speak out as a high-profile tribe that runs one of the world’s largest casinos.

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Trump had been testifying in 1993 at the House Native American Affairs Subcommittee at a hearing on how tribal casinos are regulated when he made the remarks. Trump saw the tribe's casinos as rivals to his and warned that their facilities could be infiltrated by organized crime bosses.

The tribe is also upset over current campaign rallies for Trump that it says disrespect Native Americans. The presumptive Republican presidential candidate has referred to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas,” while some supporters at rallies have mimicked offensive movie portrayals of Native American war cries to mock the senator.

The tribe called the actions at these rallies "highly inappropriate, blatantly discriminatory" and "no laughing matter," the Republican American newspaper reported.

The Trump campaign has not immediately responded to requests for comment.