Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid jumped into an online chat with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday and pushed football's top executive to "act against racism" and make the Washington Redskins' franchise pick a new team name,
The Hill reported.
Reid showed up during a live Twitter question-and-answer session with Goodell, who was fielding questions under the hashtag #AskCommish.
"Commissioner Goodell," Reid tweeted, "do you believe you have the authority to act against racism in the NFL like Mr. Silver did in the NBA?"
Reid was referring to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the NBA for life for racially charged remarks caught on tape.
Goodell did not answer Reid's question on Tuesday.
The Nevada Democrat has campaigned publicly for the football team in the nation's capital to abandon what
some have called a racial slur against American Indians.
In a floor speech last month, Reid criticized the NFL for allegedly "doing nothing while an entire population of Americans has been denigrated," and urged team owner Daniel Snyder to "do what is morally right."