President Donald Trump on Thursday referred to “shylocks” while speaking negatively about certain bankers, swiftly drawing accusations of antisemitism.
“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from—in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases shylocks and bad people," Trump told supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, while celebrating his freshly-passed spending package.
The term is widely viewed as antisemitic. It originates from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock is a Jewish moneylender portrayed through harmful stereotypes as greedy and vindictive. While it has historically been used to describe predatory lenders or loan sharks, it came to be regarded as a slur that plays on antisemitic tropes.
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“Shylock is among the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said of Trump’s comment. “This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories—and it’s deeply dangerous.”
Rep. Daniel Goldman of New York, a Democrat, called it “blatant and vile antisemitism.”
Another Democrat, Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, called on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a prominent watchdog on antisemitism, to respond. “If @ADL cannot condemn this, they should pack it up. They will have ZERO credibility,” he wrote.
The group has faced accusations of selectively responding to antisemitic rhetoric, especially after its muted response to Elon Musk’s raised-arm salute in January.
The White House and ADL did not immediately return requests for comment.
In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden faced backlash for referring to “shylocks” to describe exploitative lenders. At the time, the ADL’s leader called the term “offensive.”
Biden later apologized, saying it was a “poor choice of words.”
Trump, who has positioned himself as a strong ally of Israel, has long faced criticism for invoking Jewish tropes. Last year, he suggested that if he lost the election, Jews would be to blame. During his first term, he accused Jews who support Democrats of “great disloyalty.”
He visited Des Moines on Thursday to kick off the “America250″ event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to commemorate 250 years of the country’s independence.
